The Nam Viet seafood export joint stock company on June 9 signed new contracts to buy tra catfish from hundreds of farmers.

To increase the amount of tra catfish that they buy from existing stocks in the Mekong Delta region, the company has raised the processing capacity of its factories from 1,200 tonnes to 1,300 tonnes per day.

Due to high-interest bank loans, the company will pay 20 percent in advance with the remaining being paid within a month. With the current price of VND14,000 per kilogram, farmers have agreed to sell catfish to the company at a loss of VND1,600-1,800 per kilogram.