Catfish processing at a plant in Vietnam. (Photo: Worldofpangasius)

Tra exports to Russia face hurdles

VIET NAM
Thursday, July 01, 2010, 23:40 (GMT + 9)

The management board for catfish exports to Russia expects tra exports to reach USD 100 million in 2010 despite difficulties.

The Russian market is the third largest after the US and the European Union (EU) by both volume and value. The target was established based on last year’s positive signs of the Russian market, but the situation in the second half of 2010 may determine how exports will play out, said Duong Ngoc Minh, head of the board.

Minh appears uncertain about his forecast of USD 100 million worth of tra fish exports to Russia set last January, reports VietNamNet/SGT.

"The future is uncertain for tra fish exports to Russia," Minh stated.

The export season of tra fish tends to begin in the third quarter of the year, according to Minh, which coincides with Russia’s fishing season that lasts until November.

"Russia is among the top fish catchers in the world with annual output of around 6 million tonnes. A few years back, Vietnamese tra fish export depended on whether they had a bumper year or not. I often advise local exporters to do careful research on this market," stated Minh.

In the last two years, tra fish exporters have often faced hurdles pertaining to hygiene standards, as Russian officials found microorganism and antibiotic residues in the consignments as well as inadequate net weight, which led to a ban of tra imports in 2008. But in late May, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Luong Le Phuong said the ban was lifted.

Phuong said fish exports to the country would not be easy to keep up, as Russia aims to limit fish imports to protect its fisheries industry and also strengthen quality control standards.

In 2009, the ban was lifted and Vietnam exported 36,000 tonnes tra fish to Russia worth USD 70 million.

Ngo Phuoc Hau, chairman of the Fresh Water Fish Committee under the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), advised Vietnamese tra exporters to improve their product quality, offer promotions and build brands for tra fish to bolster exports, both to Russia and other markets.

"There remain many difficulties with the development of the tra fish sector, which sometimes gets out of control due to stronger-than-required growth and this leads to insufficient fish feed supply, and price falls. The price of tra fish bound for the US, for example, in the first quarter decreased 23 per cent compared to the same period last year," Hau said.

In the plan for tra production to 2020, the government intends to boost the current output from 1.2 million to 2 million tonnes.

Exports of tra and basa to Russia yielded over USD 27 million in the first six months of this year – more than twice the amount versus the same period in 2009. Still, the price of tra and basa remains hovering around USD 2.05 per kg, VOV reports.

Related article:

- Seafood exports looking up

By Natalia Real
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

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