China has surpassed the US as Vietnam's largest pangasius market in the first four months of 2018, reports Xinhua Net.

Vietnam exported $145 million in pangasius to China in the period up 43% on-year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

The group forecasts demand for Vietnamese pangasius fish will expand in the second quarter of 2018.

Due to high anti-dumping duties and technical barriers recently imposed by the US and EU, turnovers in these markets significantly went down, said VASEP.

Vietnam plans to make $2.2 billion dollars from pangasius exports this year, making up 31.5% of the fishery industry's total export value.

Vietnam News reports that exports to the EU in April 2018 crashed over a shortage in EU-compliant raw materials, again citing VASEP.

Tuna exports to the EU fell by 10% y-o-y, while squid and octopus exports decreased by 41% and mollusk exports went down by 19%.

The three provinces that specialize in tuna fishing caught about 7,400 metric tons in the first four months of 2018, down 14%.

The decrease in Vietnamese seafood exports to the EU shows that the yellow card slapped on Vietnam due to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing has begun to affect EU shipments negatively, VASEP said.