Duong Ngoc Minh, general director of the seafood processing firm Hung Vuong Corp., said yesterday that tra and basa were selling for VND15,500 (about 94 U.S. cents) per kilo. He added that supplies had dwindled since some 50 percent of the region’s farmers had stopped raising the fish.
Even with a price increase, many farmers will still lose VND1,500 (9 cents) per kilo due to higher input expenses, said Minh.
Meanwhile, the demand from the European and Central American markets has increased by between 20 to 50 percent recently, he said.
Tra and Basa Catfish Prices Leap
VIET NAM - Thanhnien News reports that as Mekong Delta's farmers have quit fish breeding, prices of pangasius, or tra and basa catfish, have jumped some VND1,500 per kilo over the past few days.