China spends trillions every month to buy Vietnamese pangasius fish

Vietnam's pangasius exports are about to reach the 2 billion USD mark, China is still the largest customer importing this product from Vietnam. Vietnam is the world's number 1 supplier of pangasius.

China "huge" expense

According to the General Department of Customs, export turnover Pangasius fish November reached 179 million USD, up 16% compared to November 2023. Cumulative pangasius exports up to the end of November reached 1.8 billion USD, up 10% over the same period last year.

Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) commented that, Pangasius export Vietnam has successfully reached the target of 2 billion USD as predicted at the beginning of the year. This shows that the market's attractiveness, competitiveness and potential are still strong.

Currently, Vietnam is still the world's number 1 supplier of tra fish and the "big customer" buying the most Vietnamese tra fish is still China.

In the first half of November alone, Vietnam’s pangasius export turnover to China reached 27 million USD (687 billion VND), up 36% over the same period last year. Cumulative pangasius export to the Chinese market in 11 months reached more than 506 million USD. Thus, on average, China spends more than 46 million USD (1,171 billion VND) per month to buy Vietnamese pangasius.

Vietnam's pangasius exports are about to reach the 2 billion USD mark. Source: VASEP.

Currently, there are up to 119 Vietnamese enterprises participating in exporting tra fish to the Chinese market.

Pangasius is no longer "one market"

In recent years, Vietnamese pangasius has had another strong competitor in the Chinese market, which is snakehead fish

According to VASEP, snakehead fish and pangasius have similarities in texture, flavor and culinary applications, making both fish popular in Chinese cuisine. Both have white, firm meat, mild flavor, are rich in protein and have their own competitive advantages.

In China, farmed snakehead fish is dominating imported pangasius, mainly for domestic consumption. Notably, China's snakehead fish farming output is estimated to reach 800,000 tons in 2024, of which 40% is for processing facilities and the rest for the live fish market.

According to VASEP, the development of domestic snakehead fish in China is taking place in parallel with the country's reduction in imports of Vietnamese pangasius. Specifically, in 2020, China imported more than 200,000 tons of frozen pangasius fillets from Vietnam, and by 2023 this number will have decreased to 106,000 tons. Therefore, the scenario of China being self-sufficient in snakehead fish to gradually replace imported pangasius from Vietnam is entirely possible. This will be a concern when the billion-people market is the largest customer of Vietnamese pangasius.

According to Ms. Thu Hang - VASEP's pangasius market expert: "Vietnamese pangasius has a reasonable price, stable supply, suitable for large markets. However, export value is easily affected by trade barriers and international market fluctuations. Pangasius production and export activities still face many challenges, especially strong competition with other white-flesh fish species. Vietnamese enterprises are forced to have calculations for a new, more diverse direction."

For many years, Vietnam has had the strength to export frozen pangasius fillets and almost dominated the international market. However, at present, when pangasius is no longer "alone in the market", many countries have joined the race to raise and export pangasius. Therefore, businesses need to further improve the competitiveness of pangasius in the market by increasing quality, ensuring absolute compliance with food hygiene and safety regulations to maintain the No. 1 position in global pangasius exports.

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