[Translated from Vietnamplus.vn, please find the original article here. We are not in anyway responsible for the content of the source]

Raw pangasius market is showing signs of cooling down with slightly declining prices, ranging from VND24,500-26,000/kg. Besides, the broodstock price also cooled down thanks to abundant supply.

According to Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the raw pangasius pricing in Mekong Delta provinces in May is expected to go down compared to previous months.

Currently, the prices range from VND24,500-26,500/kg, down from last month’s (type 1 fish) price of VND27,000-29,000/kg, but remains high compared to same period last year (up VND2,500-3,000/kg).

In response to this market volatility, a representative from MARD explained, the processors continued to boost purchase of raw fish to meet the demand from importing markets, especially from China, thus the raw pangasius prices remained at profitable level for farmers. However, as the harvesting dates are upcoming, prices have slightly dropped compared to April yet still remained high versus same period last year.

First 5 month’s harvest volume is forecast at c. 465,900MT, up 11.1% y-o-y. Harvest volume in 5 provinces with largest farming volume all saw growth of 50.1%, 11.8%, and 3.2% in Can Tho, An Giang, and Dong Thap respectively.

Additionally, following the downward trend of raw pangasius pricing, the fingerlings pricing also cooled down. Fingerlings supply also recovered in May, remedying the anxiety of fish farmers over shortage. Fingerlings prices of size 1.5-2.5cm range from VND 27,000-50,000/kg, a drop of VND3,000-5000 from last month.