US remains Vietnam’s top tra fish export market

The United States has been the world’s largest importer of Vietnamese tra fish in 2016 with a value of more than US$360 million, accounting for over 20% of the Southeast Asian country’s total tra fish export values.

                      Vietnam's tra fish exports to the US hit more than US$360 million in 2016

This information was released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) at a conference held in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang on December 14 to review the production and consumption of tra fish in 2016 and to discuss measures for sustainable development.

Despite the difficulties and challenges posed by the market and climate change, Vietnam has still seen growth in exports of its tra fish products, according to MARD Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong.

Vietnam’s tra fish has been present in 140 markets during the last year—four more markets than in 2015, Cuong said.

The cultivation area for the whole year is estimated at 5,000 hectares, generating a total output of over one million tonnes of tra fish and raking in US$1.6 billion in total export value, up 6.6% against the previous year, he noted.

Despite their increasing development and competitiveness, however, tra fish products are faced with market fluctuations, including increasingly formidable trade and technical barriers imposed by importing countries.

In 2017, the cultivation area for tra fish is expected to be kept below 5,500 hectares with an anticipated output of over 1.1 million tonnes.

Priority will be placed on improving the quality of tra fish varieties, expanding the application of the Vietnamese Good Agriculture Practice (VietGap) standards in tra fish farming and building farming households into cooperatives to be a focal point connecting tra fish farmers and processing plants.

Source NDO