China will become the largest Tra fish market of Vietnam in 2017

Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) forecasted that China (including Hong Kong) will be the largest Tra fish market of Vietnam in 2017.

China has surpassed the EU to become Vietnam’s second largest Tra fish market as of September 2016.

According to the VASEP, tra fish exports to mainland China and Hong Kong in the first ten months of this year reached 235.5 million USD, up 76 percent against the same period last year. Tra fish export to this market has grown constantly in the past two years, the association added.

The Vietnam Trade Promotion Office in Chongquing (China) noted that the Chinese customers’ demand for tra fish import increased due to reasonable price, said

Although the U.S is the Vietnam’s largest tra fish market, high anti-dumping taxes and the catfish investigation programme of the U.S Department of Agriculture are barriers for Vietnamese tra fish exporters. As a result, the association forecasted that tra fish export to the US market in 2017 will be not as high as that in 2016. It is also the reason for China to possibly become the largest market for Vietnamese tra fish in 2017, said the VASEP.

Tra fish material markets in Mekong Delta provinces are now sluggish in terms of purchasing power and price, as tra fish processing plants were buying and producing moderately after collecting sufficient goods to export to the EU, the US and China on Christmas and New Year occasions.