Việt Nam was the second largest supplier of white fish (mainly tra fish or pangasius) to the United States in the first half of 2024.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) cited data from the International Trade Center (ITC) which showed Vietnamese white fish export turnover to the US in the first half of 2024 reaching US$184 million, accounting for 21 per cent of the total.

Latest data from VASEP also shows Việt Nam’s pangasius export turnover to the US in July 2024 reached $31 million, up 69 per cent year-on-year. The surge brought the value in the first seven months of 2024 to $190 million, up 20 per cent over the same period last year.

The US is currently the second largest export market for pangasius of Việt Nam (behind mainland China and Hong Kong). Vietnamese pangasius products exported to the US include frozen fillets, value-added products from pangasius, dried pangasius and other frozen products.

Frozen pangasius fillets have remained the main product exported to the US with a turnover of $29 million in July 2024, up 61 per cent over the same period last year. The export turnover of this item to the US in the first seven months of this year reached $185 million, up 19 per cent over the same period.

Meanwhile, the export turnover of value-added products from pangasius to the US in the first seven months of 2024 was more than $3 million, 14 times higher than the same period last year and accounted for 14 per cent of the proportion of this item's export from Việt Nam to the world.

According to VASEP, pangasius exports from Việt Nam to the US recovered since the beginning of this year because the inventory in this market in 2023 has decreased significantly. In addition, preparations for festivals and year-end holidays have also increased consumer demand. It is forecast that pangasius export orders to the US will increase in the last months of the year.

VASEP reports that in the first seven months of 2024, Việt Nam's pangasius export turnover reached more than $1.1 billion, up 9 per cent over the same period last year. Mainland China and Hong Kong continued to be the largest export markets with $313 million, but down 4 per cent year-on-year. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)’s market was the third largest pangasius export market with $155 million, up 15 per cent year-on-year, followed by the EU with $99 million, down 2 per cent year-on-year. — VNS