Even though the total Vietnamese catfish export turnovers in the first five months of this year suffered a slight decline, shipments to the US market posted a nearly 4 percent increase, the Vietnamese Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers said on Wednesday.

Five-month catfish exports to the US topped US$150.8 million, a 3.8 percent decrease compared to the same period last year, VASEP said at a meeting with its members in Ho Chi Minh City.

However, local exporters should seek to increase the export volumes, as exporting prices to the US have gradually dropped, the association warned.

Local catfish exports to the US enjoyed a 10 percent price hike in late March, shortly after the US Department of Commerce levied a new range of anti-dumping duties on several Vietnamese businesses.

Export volumes have dropped since mid-March following the DOC decision, but a recent market survey found that most of the US importers are running out of stock, VASEP deputy chairman Duong Ngoc Minh said in a statement.

“They thus had to bid higher prices in order to maintain supplies,” he explained.