According to Vietnambiz.com
According to the Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), by the end of March 15, Vietnam’s pangasius exports to Saudi Arabia reached more than 4.3 million USD, up 13% over the same period last year (with $3.8 million). The proportion of pangasius imports of this “5th largest country in Asia” increased from 0.8% to 1%.
Source: VASEP
Pangasius exports to Saudi Arabia in the first two months of 2023 increased by 7% over the same period last year. In the first half of March alone, pangasius exports to this country reached $1.2 million, up 35% over the same period in 2022 (just over $800,000).
As of mid-March, this market ranked second after Egypt in the Middle East, 18th in the world in terms of importing Vietnamese pangasius.
VASEP said that in the context of inflation, many countries in the same region witnessed negative growth in Vietnam’s pangasius imports along with strict regulations imposed by Saudi Arabia when importing seafood. Vietnam entered this country, this is also a positive sign.
Saudi Arabia is a demanding market in terms of food safety regulations, trade marks and animal quarantine. Especially “Halal breeding program”. Not only requires seafood export shipments to have Halal certificates according to the form, but this program also controls the aqua feed stage.
Pangasius, which is Vietnam’s biggest strength in exporting to this market, has recorded a sharp decline since 2018 due to the temporary suspension of imports. The value of Vietnamese pangasius exports to this market in 2018 only reached 10.6 million USD, down 80% compared to 2017.
Previously, Saudi Arabia was a potential market for Vietnam’s seafood imports because the country had a mostly arid desert topography, with no conditions for aquaculture development.
Up to now, after more than 2 years since Saudi Arabia lifted the ban on importing seafood from Vietnam, many companies have exported large quantities of valuable goods.
