Seafood exporters suffer as China gets tough on Covid contamination

A pangasius fish exporter, who asked not be identified, was recently banned for three weeks after three containers were found infected.

This month many exporters of fish and shrimp have had bans slapped on them, some for one to three months due to the large number of infected containers.

Exporters say containers are refused entry if an earlier shipment was found with Covid.

A typical pangasius fish container to China is worth VND1.2 billion ($51,724), and a ban results in a 50 percent loss.

Exporters have been reducing shipments to China to prevent losses.

China was the third biggest importer of Vietnamese fisheries products in the first four months of this year behind only the U.S. and Japan.

Exports to China rose 94 percent year-on-year in the period to $578 million, with pangasius accounting for more than half, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.