AsemconnectVietnam - Vietnam's pangasius exports to the EU market in 2024 have dropped from the top position to 4th place. Businesses expect to have more opportunities to export pangasius to the EU this year.

According to information from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the EU has been one of the largest consuming markets for Vietnamese pangasius in the past 10 years. However, in the past 5 years, the data from Vietnam Customs showed that the EU is gradually reducing its imports of pangasius from Vietnam.
In 2015, the EU ranked 2nd in the list of the largest importing markets for Vietnamese pangasius, after the US, with an export turnover of 285 million USD.
Ten years later, in 2024, this market dropped to 4th place and ceded its higher ranking to China and Hong Kong, the US, and CPTPP. The total pangasius export turnover to the EU in 2024 reached 161 million USD, down by 5% compared to 2023, and down by 44% compared to 2015.
This decline was witnessed in most product segments. With value-added pangasius, in 2015, the EU imported more than 8 million USD worth of pangasius from Vietnam. Ten years later, in 2024, this market imported only more than 3.5 million USD of value-added pangasius products from Vietnam, a slight increase of 3% compared to 2023.
In the past 10 years, 2023 witnessed the gloomiest year for value-added pangasius exports to the EU and 2017 was recorded as the year when value-added pangasius exports to the EU reached the highest level.
Exports of other dried and frozen pangasius products (whole, cut into pieces, etc.) to the EU in 2024 will increase by 2% compared to 2023. In the past 10 years, since 2015, exports of these products to the EU in 2022 are considered to have the highest value, with nearly 10 million USD, nearly double that of 2021, then to 2024. Although the increase is not high, this is also a quite positive result that the pangasius export industry will receive in 2024.
Frozen pangasius fillets are still the main product of Vietnamese pangasius exported to the EU. Export turnover is largely dominated by the export value of this product. In 2015, frozen pangasius fillet exports to the EU reached more than 285 million USD, by 2024, this value was only more than 165 million USD.
From the above facts, what are the opportunities for pangasius exports to the EU in 2025? According to VASEP, the economy in 2025 is likened to the image of a person recovering from Covid-19. Resistance is still weak and can easily be defeated by headwinds - risk factors that may come in 2025.
Along with that, the world economy still faces many challenges. Conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, political deadlock in Germany and France, and doubts about the Chinese economy further obscure the picture. Increased conflicts can disrupt the energy market, affect confidence and growth, hinder trade growth, and cause sudden adjustments in the financial market.
The EU market bloc, which concentrates many countries that are important customers of Vietnamese pangasius, is unlikely to avoid these impacts. However, it is still too early to conclude or make accurate forecasts about consumer demand in this market segment, because it depends on many factors, including the above objective reasons and subjective impacts from prices.
CK
Source: VITIC/ haiquanonline.com.vn