According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), our country’s value-added pangasius products are increasingly favored by world consumers. Therefore, investing in deep processing and increasing the value of pangasius products will be an inevitable trend.

For example, dried pangasius fish bladder (HS code 03057219) is no longer a strange product to many markets. By the end of August 2024, dried pangasius fish bladder exports reached 58 million USD.

Accordingly, China maintains its position as Vietnam’s largest customer in terms of demand for this product. In the first 8 months of this year, exports of dried tra fish bladders to China reached 21 million USD (equivalent to 525 billion VND), accounting for 36% of the export value of this product of our country.

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China is not only the biggest customer of Vietnamese pangasius but also spends a large amount of money on dried pangasius fish bladder products. Photo: Pham Hoang Giam

There are 12 Vietnamese enterprises participating in supplying dried tra fish bladders to China.

Notably, in the past two years, China has increased its purchases of dried pangasius bladders from Vietnam to compensate for the shortage of supply from Mexico. This has helped increase the revenue of this product in many Vietnamese businesses.

In the Chinese market, fish bladder (including dried catfish bladder) is not only a nutritious food for gourmets but also a symbol of success, wealth and prosperity for the user of the product. That is why this type of product is often used as a gift at important events.

The price of fish bladder in China ranges from 450-1,000 USD/kg, and in Hong Kong (China) the price can even reach 7,700 USD/kg.

VASEP said that Mexico used to be China's top choice for fish maw. However, with some endemic fish species facing extinction and Mexican authorities tightening control, China has gradually turned to Southeast Asia, especially increasing purchases from Vietnam, including dried tra fish maw.

In the seafood industry, catfish bladder used to be a discarded by-product. But now, this is a rather expensive product due to the elaborate and complicated processing steps, along with the meticulous and highly technical processing procedures. To make 1kg of dried catfish bladder, 5-7kg of fresh bladder is needed.

In addition to China, our country also exports dried tra fish bladder to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the US... VASEP assessed that the potential and room for exporting dried tra fish bladder still exists for world markets. However, the biggest challenge is the lack of input materials, leading to a small quantity of goods.

Super expensive price, mackerel mackerel bladder sells for 2 million USD With the most expensive selling price among seafood products, the number of customers ordering increased dramatically, so in just the first 3 months of the year, exported mackerel mackerel bladder earned more than 2 million USD.