BACKGROUND STUDY FOR
GLOBAL VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS
FOR STRIPED CATFISH
Nguyen Minh Duc
Department of Fisheries Management and Development
Nong Lam University, Thuduc, Hochiminh City
Email:nguyenminhducts@gmail.com
nmduc@hcmuaf.edu.vn
Presentation at the FAO Workshop
University of Tokyo, Japan, 09-11 Dec, 2010
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Brief on Vietnam fishery export
fishery product exports have increased considerably
since 2000 to become a major income earner and
one of Vietnam’s major export commodities.
 Aquatic exports earned over $1 billion in 2000, $ 2.2
billion in 2003 and $3.36 billion in 2006.
 Catfish and shrimp are by far the largest share of
aquatic exports, accounting for over 22% and 44%,
respectively, of total export earnings in 2006.
 Currently Vietnamese fishery products have reached
more than 120 countries and territories on five
continents.
 Japan and the United States are the two largest
export destinations, by country, while European
Union nations, as a group, had the largest share of
exports by volume and the second largest share by
value in 2006.

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Vietnam's Primary Fishery Export Products in 2006
(value basis)
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Vietnam's Fishery Products Export Market, 2006
(value basis)
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Mekong Delta
most dynamic aquaculture region of Vietnam
 The Mekong delta has 641,350 ha of
freshwater area, which comprises of 67.2%
total water surface
 most diversified aquatic farming activities and
great potential for increasing aquaculture
production.
 There are a few species, which have been
commercially produced in the Delta, such as
pangasiid catfishes and black tiger shrimp

(Penaeus monodon)
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Vietnamese stripped catfish is similar to US catfish
US catfish
Vietnamese catfish
- are Ictaluridae family,
are Pangasius family • channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)
basa (Pangasius bocourti) +
• blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus)
tra (Pangasianodon hypophthamus) +
farmed in closed ponds
farmed mostly in pens and deep ponds along
in southern states
the Mekong River, southern provinces
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Catfish production
Catfish production reached 1,500,000 tons with only
6000 ha
 Farm price of catfish was decreasing during 20052009, around 15,000 – 17,000 Vietnam dong (~
$0.78-0.84) per kg while the price of exported catfish
fillets is 2.3 USD/kg.
 12% of farmers get financial loss since 2008.
 However, farm price is increasing in the last months of
2010 (~$1/kg) and also exported price ( $2.6/kg) due
to lack of harvested fish.
 the farming and processing sectors of catfish industry
has created 800,000 jobs for farmers in Mekong Delta
and many more in inputs supplying sectors.

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Pond
culture
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Catfish processing





The striped catfish is processed mostly in frozen
fillets form for exports.
The annual export value is 1.4 billion USD
fresh catfish is also exported but the fresh products
mostly for domestic use.
The processing sector including 280 enterprises.
Following quality standards and improved to meet
global standards on quality, food safety, and
environmental conservation.
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Rapid growth in catish industry
1400
1600
1400
1600
1200
Total production
1400
1200
Total production
Total exports
1400
1200
Total exports
Export value
1000
1000 MT
1000 MT
1000
1200
800
800
1000
* 2008
estimated
Export
valueusing data
from January to October
800
600
800
600
600
400
600
USD$
Million
Million
USD$
1000
400
400
400
200
200
200
200
0
0
2001
2002
2003
2004
0
2001
2002
2003
2005
Year
2006
2005
2006
2004
2007
2008*
0
2007
2008
Year
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More commercial scales
Total
4,696
7,558
5,459
1
>0.5 ha
0.9
Proportion of farms
0.8
0.7
7.2
21.4
17.7
> 2.0 ha
17.3
1.0 - 2.0 ha
0.5 – 1 ha
0.6
0.5
20.9
23.5
28
≤0.5 ha
0.4
0.2 to 0.3 ha
0.1 – 0.2 ha
0.3
0.2
0.3 – 0.5 ha
24.9
<0.1 ha
38.4
0.1
0.05 – 0.1 ha
17.3
16.8
16.7
2007
2008
< 0.05 ha
0
2006
Year
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Supply chain in catfish industry
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Market structure in 2008
Farmers
Inputs
supplier
Collectors
Processors
Traders
2.2%
Production
Input
suppliers
-Seed
-Food
8.9%
Consumers
Wholesalers
Brokers
6.7%
Catfish
farmers
Retailers
Local
consumers
4.5%
1.9%
91.1%
-Medical
chemicals
Processors
91.4%
Export markets
Associations
Provincial extension system
Research institutions/Universities
Trade promotion Centers
VASEP
NAFIQUAD
Banks
Source: Loc, 2009
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Market structure in 2009
Inputs
supplier
Collectors/
Farmers
Processors
Traders
Wholesalers
4,6%
Production
Input
suppliers
-Seed
-Food
Consumers
Brokers
13,8%
4,6%
Brokers
Local
Catfish
farmers
Retailers
9,2%
consumers
9,2%
8,6%
86,2%
Processors
-Medical
chemicals
77,6%
Export markets
Associations
Provincial extension system
Research institutions/Universities
Trade promotion Centers
VASEP
NAFIQUAD
Banks
Source: N.Khiem and Bush, 2010
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Vietnamese catfish industry globalization
Vietnamese catfish industry has considerably developed
since the country joined into globalization and adopted free
trade principles
 employed almost a million Vietnamese people
 Vietnamese producers successfully created low-cost
breeding techniques of catfish in 1998 and developed a
catfish breeding industry involving 15,000 families
 VN catfish farmers have opted to buy imported pellet feed
and also adopted advanced feeding technologies to
improve fish meat quality, meeting the quality and taste
requirements of US consumers.
 VN catfish processors have learned catfish fillet techniques
from an Australian importer and used processing
equipments purchased from the US for their production,
following the quality control protocols of HACCP, SQF
and Global GAP
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Increase in catfish exports

Prior to 1998, the time Vietnam join into APEC,
export volume of tra and basa to US market was
200 metric tons

In 2002, after the US and Vietnam signed the
Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), the export
volume increased to more than 8.000 metric tons
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Increase in catfish exports
Although exporting catfish even before 1995, the
tremendous spurt in exports to US came in 1999
when raw seafood tariffs dropped to zero
 reached a volume of 18.3 million kilograms of
catfish to the US, which is valued at $55.1 million
in 2002 after the bilateral trade agreement between
US and Vietnam was signed in December 2001.

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Involving into trade protection
policy from the US
US labeling
 US antidumping

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Price effect of the US
barriers

Labeling
law
US fillets production increased but its price still decreased,
in contrast to Vietnamese products
Unit
1999
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Vietnam fillets price
$/lb.
2.04
1.52
1.26
1.29
1.21
1.15
0.93
US fillets price
$/lb.
2.76
2.83
2.61
2.39
2.41
2.62
2.67
Antidumping tariffs
$/lb.
--
--
--
--
0.64
0.61
0.49
US farm price
$/lb.
74
75
65
57
58
70
72
US imports from VN
Mil. Lbs
2
7
17
10
4
7
17
US fillets production
Mil. lbs.
120
120
115
131
125
122
124
US farm production
Mil. lbs.
597
594
597
631
661
630
601
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Trade effects
Antidumping measures

Since1980, US producers have been
continuously seeking a trade protection

Byrd Amendment 2000 (cancelled since 2008)
allowed the petitioners in AD suits get
disbursement from tariff revenue

From 1980 to 2004, the US investigated 1092
antidumping cases of which 461 lead to a tariff
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Effect of the US catfish antidumping with linear regression
for an equation system
PRELIM
FINAL
*
:
US
price
VN
price
US
US farm
demand
price
0.002
-0.004
0.012
0.004
(0.657)
0.006
(-0.106)
-0.029
(0.582)
0.031
(0.643)
0.006
(2.531)
(-0.963)
(1.824)
(1.167)
Absolute value of t- ratio is in parenthesis
More info at Duc, NM (2007)
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Effects of AD measures on fish market shares
in US market
Antidumping
measures
*
:
Imported
Salmon
Imported
Tilapia
Imported
Catfish
US Domestic
Catfish
0.036
(2.37)
0.053
(3.83)
-0.038
(3.82)
-0.032
(2.93)
Absolute value of t- ratio is in parenthesis
More info at: Hong, TTK, Duc, NM and H. Kinnucan (2008)
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Other non-tariff barriers from the US
Oct 2005, “Sales Ban” order in Alabama,
Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana
 May 2008, US Farm Bill 2008, catfish
quality must be strictly controlled before
imported to the US

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Diversification of export market
Vietnamese Catfish Exports (Unit: metric ton)
Total exports
EU
Japan
US
1997
425
54
0
55
1998
2263
188
22
261
1999
1715
192
91
903
2000
3,689
19
28
3,191
2001
10,955
140
9
7,765
2002
27,980
2,979
632
4,361
US antidumping 2003
measures issued
33,304
7,388
464
1,929
2004
82,962
23,637
932
3,010
2005
140,707
55,172
579
8,623
APEC join
US-VN BTA
signed
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Diversification of export market
100%
Market share by value
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Year
USA
EU
China
ASEAN
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Russia
Other
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Regulation
There are now more strictly regulations
related to environment protection, quality
control and health/sanitary guarantees.
 more and more non-tariff barriers to
international trade, such as anti-dumping
measures and sanitary requirements.
 WWF in European countries put the fish in a
‘red list’, recommend consumers not to buy
for environmental natural conservation.
=> New regulation and policy expected
released in 2011

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Data availability


Data for domestic value chain is not available
Although out-up-date, may use the dataset on VN
catfish exports to study
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THANK YOU!
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