Pangasius Imports Outpacing Tilapia

Typically, tilapia frozen fillet imports outpace that of pangasius on average by just under 100 million pounds at the year's end. However, on a year-to-date basis, with import data recorded from January through June, 2021 is showing an inverse of that trend.

Currently, tilapia frozen fillet volume reports 95.1 million pounds for the first half of the year, while pangasius boasts 119.2 million pounds for the same timeframe. While both markets are experiencing similar pain points such as increased freight, shipping delays, logistical issues in securing container or vessel transport, on top of an active summer demand, the pangasius market is burdened with yet another obstacle to overcome. Just recently the producing country of Vietnam fell under emergency restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19, resulting in a fraction of the production workforce being able to 'work-in-place' during the lockdown...

Source: seafoodnews.com, posted on August 6, 2021