The European Union's canned tuna production has increased steadily in recent years, reaching a level of 374,000 metric tons (MT) in 2017, up from 369,000 MT and 356,000 MT in 2016 and 2015, respectively, finds new data compiled by the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA).
Tuna, mostly canned, has been the most-consumed seafood product in the E.U. for several years, ahead of cod and salmon. In 2016, its apparent consumption amounted to almost 2.8 kilograms per capita (live weight equivalent – LWE), representing 11.4 percent of the population’s total consumption of fisheries and aquaculture products. The E.U.’s canned tuna sector supplies less than half of this market.
With 241,000 MT, Spain is leading the bloc’s canned tuna production, but other countries have been responsible for much of the overall growth seen since 2014. Italy’s production of 84,000 MT, up 22 percent; Portugal’s 23,000 MT, up 6 percent; and France’s 21,000 MT, also up 6 percent; have all contributed.
To support the canned sector’s growth, the E.U. has been importing larger volumes, with the tendency to import more precooked frozen tuna loins and less whole frozen tuna. For example, in 2018, 77 percent LWE of the tuna imported in the E.U. for canning purposes consisted of tuna loins, compared with 72 percent in 2015 and 65 percent in 2005.
According to EUMOFA, this partial switch has maintained the activities of many processing plants in the E.U., which otherwise would have faced difficulties competing with factories located near to fishing areas.
Last year, the major suppliers of frozen whole tuna to the E.U. industry were Cape Verde (8,322 MT), the Seychelles (8,158 MT), Philippines (7,021 MT), and Vietnam (3,552 MT), in addition to the two member states Spain (22,816 MT) and France (11,637 MT). The main suppliers of tuna loins were Ecuador (36,437 MT – in product weight), China (19,257 MT), Papua New Guinea (14,746 MT), Philippines (10,384 MT), Solomon Islands (8,106 MT), Mauritius (7,931 MT), and Indonesia (7,740 MT).
Most of the canned tuna exported by E.U. producers goes to other member states. In 2018, this intra-E.U. trade accounted for 90 percent of the total volume or 242,000 MT with a value in excess of EUR 1.2 billion (USD 1.3 billion), up from 226,000 MT worth EUR 1.1 billion (USD 1.2 billion) in 2017 and 194,000 MT worth EUR 911 million (USD 1 billion) in 2016.
Africa absorbed around 5.4 percent of E.U. canned tuna exports last year.
The main destination markets within the E.U. are Italy, France, and Germany, which together accounted for 51 percent by volume of E.U.’s intra-E.U. exports.
EUMOFA’s data further established that E.U. markets imported 398,000 MT of canned tuna valued at more than EUR 1.7 billion (USD 1.9 billion) from third-countries last year. The main source of this canned tuna was Ecuador, which accounted for 25 percent of the total volume or (100,706 MT), followed by the Seychelles (48,654 MT), Philippines (47,805 MT) and Mauritius (45,963 MT), which altogether supplied 36 percent of the E.U.’s third-country imports.
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