Dong Thap (VNA) – Vietnam is facing anurgent need to build brands for its tra fish, a big foreign currency earner,amidst numerous challenges facing the industry.

In the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap – oneof the biggest tra fish producers and exporters in the country, local farmersharvested 265,000 tonnes of tra fish in the first half of 2019, during whichmore than 160,000 tonnes of fish fillets were processed for export, up 25.5percent year on year. 

As of May 31, the inventory at local seafoodprocessing companies was about 34,600 tonnes, according to the provincialDepartment of Industry and Trade.

Over the last few days, prices of tra fish aswell as fingerlings have nosedived to a 10-year low. Factories now purchase trafish at around 19,000 – 20,000 VND (over 0.8 USD) per kg, down 8,000 VND per kgfrom the same period of last year, causing a loss of 3,000 – 5,000 VND per kgto farmers.

Ha Buu Khanh, head of the trade managementdivision at the Dong Thap department, attributed the plunge largely to the“overheated” farming expansion since the price surge in 2018, when Vietnam’stra fish exports hit a record of 2.3 billion USD.

When prices soared, farmers could gain a profitof up to 10,000 VND per kg, triggering a rush on farming expansion which inturn has led to big supply this year, he noted.

Data of the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment showed that tra fish output in the Mekong Delta approximated475,500 tonnes in the first five months of 2019, up 6.2 percent from a yearearlier.

Noting the excessive supply as a result of the“overheated” farming development, Chairman of the Vietnam Pangasius AssociationDuong Nghia Quoc pointed out that some countries with climate conditionssimilar to Vietnam’s have begun to produce and export tra fish. Severalcountries like India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and China have strongly expandedtheir farming areas.

Additionally, Vietnamese tra fish used to bedefamed or suffered from groundless anti-dumping duties in foreign markets.

He said the Government recognised tra fish as anational product and a key export item that has been shipped to about 150countries and territories. However, Vietnamese tra fish no longer holds the dominantposition in the global market. Therefore, it is now an urgent need to buildbrands for tra fish.

The shortage of brands has exposed Vietnamesetra fish to numerous difficulties in foreign markets, including priceinstability, Quoc said, adding that the sooner brands are built, the moresustainably and effectively this sector will develop.

Brand building is not farmers, businesses orstate agencies’ own affair, but it is a long-term work that must pay attentionto all steps, from fingerling production, fish food processing to farmingtechnologies, so that finished products meet requirements of importingcountries, according to the pangasius association chairman.-VNA