Navico to kick off construction at collagen, gelatin plant in August

An Giang, Vietnam-based pangasius firm Nam Viet Joint Stock Company, or Navico, plans to begin construction in August at a factory in Vietnam that would produce collagen and gelatin from pangasius, an official from Navico told SeafoodSource earlier this week.

The construction work will take around one year to complete, she said.

Navico and another local pangasius producer – the Dai Tay Duong Company Limited – each have a 50 percent stake in the Amicogen Nam Viet Company Limited, the operator of the project. The chartered capital of the Amicogen Nam Viet is VND 46.48 billion (USD 2 million, EUR 1.8 million).

But the official said the two companies will sell part of their stakes at Amicogen Nam Viet to a South Korean partner. The South Korean company will also provide the design of the factory and will buy a portion of the factory’s products.

However, the signing with the South Korean partner has been postponed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Navico official said, without providing the name of the South Korean company.

According to a statement from Navico, the factory will be built on an area of 9,600 square meters and will produce 800 metric tons (MT) per year of collagen and gelatin products.

Currently, Vinh Hoan, the country’s leading producer and exporter of pangasius, is the only producer of collagen from pangasius skin in Vietnam.

Navico said last month it expects to harvest 105,000 MT of pangasius this year from the Binh Phu, which it said is the biggest pangasius farm in Vietnam.

The company’s export value fell 19.7 percent year-on-year to USD 28.5 million (EUR 26.3 million) in the first four months, mainly due to the global outbreak of the coronavirus. Its sales in the period declined in most major markets including the European Union, China (including Hong Kong), Mexico, and the ASEAN bloc.

Navico is also in the process of building back up its exports to the United States after ceasing shipments in the midst of the so-called “whitefish wars,” which saw the U.S. raise trade barriers to pangasius from Vietnam.

Photo courtesy of Navico