After facing difficulties for a long time, tra fish exports reached USD358 million in the first three months of the year, a year-on-year rise of 4.2%, reported the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) in a meeting with seafood traders in the Mekong Delta on April 20th.

Of this, export to the US market increased 10% while export to China and Brazil rose 39% and eight folds, respectively.

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Market surveys showed China had big demand for importing Vietnamese tra fish, while export to Brazil stagnated from the fourth quarter of 2014 because the country’s government suspended licensing, the export market recovering only in mid-2015.

In spite of the recovery of tra fish exports in the first quarter, there is still difficulties in the short term. Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe, VASEP Secretary General, worried that the biggest disadvantage is the US Department of Commerce’s final result of the anti-dumping duty administrative review (POR 11), which decided the tax rates imposed on Vietnamese frozen tra fish fillets imported to the market between August 1st, 2013 and July 31st, 2014.

Accordingly, the tax rate ranges from USD0.41 to USD0.97 per kilogram, with the average tax rate of USD0.69 per kilogram. These rates were judged to make it very difficult for Vietnamese tra fish traders to penetrate the market in the near future.

Currently, about 27 Vietnamese tra fish enterprises are pursuing the 12th anti-dumping duty administrative review (POR 12) which is expected to have preliminary results in September 2016.

Before this circumstance, Vietnam’s 2016 tra fish exports are forecast to hit about USD1.5 billion, down 5% from the previous year./.

( Compiled by VNF )