Hanoi (VNA) – Tra (pangasius) fish exports to Brazil are expected to grow in the last months of 2021 despite facing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vietnam raked in 47.44 million USD from exporting tra fish to Brazil this year to mid-October, representing an increase of over 1.5 times against the same period last year, according to Ta Ha, an expert from Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

The VASEP representative said the South American country’s demand for food imports is projected to increase sharply from now until the end of the year and into next year, creating opportunities for Vietnamese tra fish industry to boost exports to the market.

Statistics from the Brazilian Fisheries Association showed that, in the third quarter of 2021 alone, the total import value of aquaculture products increased by 87 percent to 190 million USD. Of which, tra fish is one of the two products that saw import increase.

According to the International Trade Center (ITC), in the first nine months of this year, the value of Brazil's import of white-meat fish hiked by 14.5 percent year on year to 121 million USD, with that of Vietnam's tra fish soaring by 41.3 percent to 33 million USD. 

Nearly 20 Vietnamese enterprises are exporting tra fish products to Brazil, including Southern Fishery Industries in Can Tho and Hung Ca 6 and Cadovimex II in Dong Thap, with 96 percent of products being frozen fillets./.