Apr 24, 2012

Vietnam - Vietnam’s tra fish export prices on the decrease, danger on the rise


VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese tra fish exporters, who are seriously thirsty for capital and worried stiff with high inventory, have been trying to attract buyers by offering low prices.

The export prices offered for the EU and US markets have been lowered to surprisingly low prices since Vietnamese exporters have fallen into big difficulties which force them to sell cheaply.

However, analysts have warned that this would do more harm than good. The low prices may lead to lawsuits to be raised by the associations in the import countries. Meanwhile, Vietnamese tra fish with high value and nutrition would lose its prestige in the world market.

Situation really worrying

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Vietnam exported more than 161,000 tons of tra fish in the first quarter of 2012, worth 421 million dollars, an increase of 12 percent in comparison with the same period of 2011.

However, the worrying problem is that foreign importers only offer to buy tra fish at low prices, while Vietnamese exporters themselves tend to lower their export prices.

A report by VASEP shows that the US is the market to which Vietnamese exporters have offered the sharpest price decreases, especially after the Boston international seafood trade fair. The capital shortage is the main reason behind this, while the inventory is high enough for the consumption for two more months.

The current situation is really worrying for Vietnamese tra fish processors and exports. Vietnam’s tra fish is still under the investigation and bears anti-dumping duties. Vietnam should keep the stable prices or sell fish at the prices higher than the prices quoted for consideration during the last administration review (POR7), especially when the next POR8 and POR9 are coming.

Also according to VASEP, by mid-March 2012, the US had remained the biggest tra fish import market of Vietnam which consumed 60.6 million dollars’ worth of products, up by 47.9 percent in comparison with the same period of the last year. In February alone, the import revenue reached 26.3 million dollars, an increase of 138.4 percent in comparison with the same period of the last year, and higher than the revenue of 20.3 million dollars in January 2012.

However, the higher export revenue of tra fish to the US does not mean the higher demand from the market. If analyzing the figures, one would recognize that while the export revenue increased, the number of enterprises exporting tra fish to the market also increased.

VASEP has estimated that the number of Vietnamese enterprises exporting to the US has been double that of one or two years ago. Therefore, the prices offered to sell by Vietnamese enterprises have been on the decrease. The importers, who understand Vietnamese enterprises’ circumstances, have also tried to force the prices down, even though the consumption is still very good in the market.

Stiff competition may make Vietnam’s tra fish lose luster

Also according to VASEP, though the export revenue to the EU had decreased by 12.8 percent in comparison with the same period of 2011, with the turnover of 88 million dollars, the EU remains the biggest importer of Vietnam’s tra fish

However, the unhealthy competition among Vietnamese exporters, who have been trying to scramble for clients by slashing sale prices, has badly affected the image of Vietnam’s tra fish in foreign consumers’ eyes.

Jean-Charles Diener, Director of Ofco Sourcing, a tra fish importer and distributor in Europe, said that importers do not always like low prices. Importers have to compete fiercely with each other, and they would not make profit when many others can sell at lower prices.

As a result, importers tend to restrict the tra fish imports from Vietnam with the campaigns of defaming Vietnam’s tra which have become bigger and better organized.

Source: TBKTSG



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