Despite the geographical distance, Vietnamese pangasius is still one of the main export items to Mexico.

As a dynamically developing economy with a large population and a gateway to more than 500 million consumers, Mexico is gradually becoming an attractive market area for the whole world, including Vietnam. Mexico has relations with many important economic regions in the world and is considered a hub for expanding to dynamic economic regions such as the G20 (group of major economies) or the Pacific Alliance.

Pangasius is among the seafood products that enjoy incentives under the CPTPP Agreement. According to statistics from Vietnam Customs, in the first half of July 2024, pangasius exports to Mexico reached more than 4 million USD, an increase of 90% over the same period in 2023. As of July 15, 2024, cumulative pangasius exports to this market reached 39 million USD, an increase of 14% over the same period last year. As of mid-July 2024, Mexico continued to maintain its position as the leading market in the CPTPP bloc, and was the third single market after China and the US in consuming the most pangasius from Vietnam.

After continuously decreasing imports in February, March, and April 2024, pangasius exports grew positively again in May and June 2024. In particular, June 2024 is the month when this market consumes the most Vietnamese pangasius with an import value of more than 8 million USD, an increase of 50% compared to June 2023.

Vietnam mainly exports frozen pangasius fillets and frozen pangasius pieces to Mexico. In QII/2024, frozen pangasius fillet exports with HS code 0304 to this market reached more than 18 million USD, an increase of 19%, and in the first 6 months of the year reached more than 31 million USD, an increase of 6% compared to the same period last year.

In QII/2024, Mexico hardly imported value-added processed pangasius products (HS code 16) from Vietnam. In the first half of this year, this market consumed nearly 300 thousand USD of VAT pangasius, up 262% over the same period, accounting for 1% of the proportion, and mainly due to the import volume from the first quarter of the year.

Although still growing, the average export price of Vietnamese pangasius to Mexico in the first half of this year was still below 2.5 USD/kg. However, this is still not the lowest price in the past 3 years.

Despite the geographical distance, Vietnamese pangasius is still favored by consumers in Mexico. Vietnamese pangasius has many similarities in terms of firmness and taste compared to other white-fleshed fish such as cod, sardines, haddock, and pollock. In addition, with the advantage of much lower production costs than other white-fleshed fish, Vietnamese pangasius has quickly become a highly competitive alternative product not only for Asian tastes but also in many countries around the world.

In the first 6 months of 2024, I.D.I Corp was the largest pangasius exporter to Mexico, accounting for 46% of the total. In the second half of this year, pangasius exports are expected to continue to grow as people in this Latin American country prepare for festivals and holidays.

Source: VASEP