Catfish export target to go down due to US tax levy

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Vietnam has cut the earnings forecast for catfish export this year to US$1.35 from the estimation of $1.38 billion in August due to the imposition of anti-dumping tax on the products in the US, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Vietnam catfish export to the US immediately fell after the US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced to raise anti-dumping tariff on the products made by five exporters including Vinh Hoan, Vinh Quang, Agifish, ESS LLC and South Vina to 130 percent last month.

Currently, the average price of the product is around $3.5 – $4 a kilogram as Vietnamese product is enjoying the tariff rate of 0.52 percent.

If the tariff exceeds 100 percent, American customers will have to pay about $7-$8 a kilogram, thus making Vietnamese catfish products much less competitive, Vietnam News Agency quoted Nguyen Huu Dung, Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors as saying.

Vietnam is one of the biggest catfish exporters in the world, and the annual export of raw material totals 1.2 million tons a year.

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Catfish export target to go down due to US tax levy

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Vietnam has cut the earnings forecast for catfish export this year to US$1.35 from the estimation of $1.38 billion in August due to the imposition of anti-dumping tax on the products in the US, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Vietnam catfish export to the US immediately fell after the US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced to raise anti-dumping tariff on the products made by five exporters including Vinh Hoan, Vinh Quang, Agifish, ESS LLC and South Vina to 130 percent last month.

Currently, the average price of the product is around $3.5 – $4 a kilogram as Vietnamese product is enjoying the tariff rate of 0.52 percent.

If the tariff exceeds 100 percent, American customers will have to pay about $7-$8 a kilogram, thus making Vietnamese catfish products much less competitive, Vietnam News Agency quoted Nguyen Huu Dung, Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors as saying.

Vietnam is one of the biggest catfish exporters in the world, and the annual export of raw material totals 1.2 million tons a year.

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More Coca-Cola imported for profits boosting

Photo: Reuters

The US-based soft drink maker Coca-Cola in Vietnam and other retailers have spent around US$894,000 since the beginning of this year to import the drink to Vietnam to increase profits.

The imported soft drink, mostly Cambodian-made 1.5-liter PET bottles, is much cheaper than local products since the after-tax cost of each imported box of Coca-Cola is around VND80,000 ($4), half the retail price in the domestic market.

Although has three plants in the country, Coca-Cola Beverages Vietnam Co has spent over $99,500 on import 404,000 boxes of the soft drink this year, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department.

No Coca-Cola products were imported into Vietnam last year, according to Vietnam News Agency.

Since the consumption of the products in the local market was growing faster than expected, so several firms chose to import some to meet demand, said Martin Gil, general director of Indochina Coca-Cola.

The three Coca-Cola plants in the country produce a total of 608 million liters and the company is installing two more production chains in its factories in Hanoi, and upgrading facilities in HCMC and Danang.

“The imports will be fully stopped at the end of next year when we complete the upgrade of our production capacity,” Gil told Tuoi Tre.

Apart from Coca-Cola, the soft drink Red Bull is also imported from Thailand, despite the fact that it is also produced in Vietnam.

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Demand for essential goods to increase

Demand for 12 essential goods items is forecast to increase next year, including for steel, cement, oil products and coal.

Based on Vietnam 's economic growth expectations from 2011-15, the
Ministry of Industry and Trade estimated demand for steel products to
increase 8-10 percent to 12.5-12.8 million tonnes in 2011.

The demand for cement next year was predicted to go up by 10 percent to
55-56 million tonnes while total output to reach 60 million, thus
meeting demand and keep price stable.

Demand for petrol
and oil products was forecast to be 17 million tonnes next year, to be
met by 6 million tonnes of domestic production and 11.6 million tonnes
of imports.

The nation would balance the demand for 44 million tonnes of coal by producing 47.3 million tonnes, the ministry said.

Paper demand would increase to 2.35 million tonnes next year, to be met
by 1.77 million produced locally and 700,000 tonnes from imported.

The nation's consumption of 28 million tonnes of rice in next year
would be supplied by the expected harvest of 31.6 million tonnes.

The demand on medicine, food and fertiliser was also expected to increase next year.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has called on ministries,
agencies and municipal and provincial authorities to implement
strategies to stabilise the market and boost production.

Directive No1875/CT-TTg, released last week was designed to ensure the
country's growth rate reaches 6.5 percent, while the consumer price
index did not rise above 8 percent.

Dung said the economy,
which typically suffers during the final months of the year, would also
have to weather capital shortages, rises in the price of essential
goods, power shortages and potential animal epidemics/.

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Soft drinks imported despite local products

Soft drink maker Coca-Cola has three factories in the country, but
around 900,000 USD has been spent since the beginning of this year to
import the drink, according to the HCM City Customs Department.

No Coca-Cola products were imported into Vietnam last year.

Martin Gil, general director of Indochina Coca-Cola and chief
representative of the brandname in Vietnam , said consumption of
their products in the local market was growing faster than expected, so
several firms chose to import some to meet demand.

The
three Coca-Cola plants in the country produce a total of 608 million
litres and the company is installing two more production chains in its
factories in Hanoi , and upgrading facilities in HCM City and Da
Nang .

"The imports will be fully stopped at the end of
next year when we complete improvement of our production capacity," Gil
told the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

In fact, imported
soft drink is much cheaper than local products. Each imported box of
Coca-Cola costs around 80,000 VND (4USD) (after taxes), half the retail
price in the domestic market.

Apart from Coca-Cola, the
Red Bull energy drink is also imported from Thailand , despite the fact
that it is also produced in Vietnam./.

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Vietnam Airlines to begin training pilots at home

Vietnam Airlines will send trainees for basic pilot training to the country’s first flight training institute in Vung Tau as part of its initiative to begin training at home.

The state-owned carrier signed an agreement with the institute, the Viet Flight Training Joint Stock Co, last Thursday.

Three groups of 20 trainees each will undergo a 72-week course, partially in France with assistance from the ESMA Aviation Academy, a renowned French training center.

By the end of 2012 it hopes to carry out the entire training in Vietnam.

Nguyen Sy Hung, the carrier’s chairman, said at the signing ceremony: “This is to help Vietnam Airlines actively control its pilot training plans, lower costs, and thus deliver a much stronger performance.”

By the end of this year the airlines will employ 636 pilots, 60 percent of them Vietnamese, he said, adding the figure will go up to 75 percent by 2015.

The carrier also plans to train 100 pilots every year during the decade through 2020 to achieve its target of expanding its crew size by 10 percent.

Viet Flight is the first Vietnamese flight training institute allowed to award the Airline Transport Pilot License.

It was established in June 2008 by Vietnam Airlines Corporation, Service Flight Corp of Vietnam, Vietnam Aircraft Leasing Co, and ESMA.

Between 2010 and 2011, it will run 4 more pilot training courses for carriers in Vietnam and in the region.

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Martin Yan named ambassador for new fish sauce

World-famous chef Martin Yan of the US, named the brand ambassador for the new Kabin fish sauce, poses at the launch of the product in HCMC last Thursday

Photo: Photo courtesy of Hong Phu Co

Fish sauce maker Hong Phu Co has introduced the Kabin brand and unveiled a brand ambassador for it – the world-renowned chef Martin Yan of the US.

The Binh Thuan Province-based company said the product is the first in Vietnam to use ultra-high temperature sterilization technology used in milk processing.

There are three versions of the fish sauce -- normal anchovy, salmon, and concentrated anchovy flavor – and all have received ISO 22000-2005 and ISO 17025/HACCP international food safety and sanitation certification.

“Fish sauce is a vital ingredient in Vietnamese cuisine, enhancing the taste and flavor of many dishes like pho, I’m proud of being the brand ambassador for the products”, said Martin Yan.

Hong Phu’s US$20.6 million plant, which is equipped with European and Japanese machinery, has an annual capacity of 96 million liters.

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