Vietnam saw its tuna export value rise in January, recording sales increases in a number of its major markets.
The country exported tuna worth USD 42.3 million (EUR 35.2 million) in the first month of this year, up 6.3 percent from the same month in 2020, according to a 4 March news release from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
Of the total, the sales value of canned tuna products originating from Vietnam flew up 50 percent year-on-year, accounting for 32 percent of the total sales value of the country’s tuna exports. Sales of fresh, frozen and dried tuna – under the code HS03 (excluding HS0304) – grew 110 percent year-on-year, accounting for 10 percent of the total value. Sales of tuna products with code HS0304 rose 4 percent year-on-year, accounting for 51 percent of the total value.
Top destinations in value for tuna products from Vietnam in January included the United States at USD 14.1 million (EUR 11.7 million), down 10 percent year-on-year; Canada, at USD 2.7 million (EUR 2.2 million), up 51 percent from a year earlier; Italy, at USD 2.4 million (EUR 2 million), a jump of 141 percent year-on-year; and Japan, at USD 2 million (EUR 1.7 million), 10 percent lower than January 2020.
Meanwhile, caught output of tuna in Vietnam is on the decline, potentially affecting processing and export activities of local processors.
Total production was estimated at 17,000 metric tons (MT) last year, down 2.9 percent from 17,000 MT in 2019. The decrease is attributed to overfishing, Vietnam Tuna Association Chairman Vu Van Dap told Bnews on 5 March.
The annual tuna fishing season for Vietnamese fishermen in the South China Sea typically runs from December to April. In Khanh Hoa, one of the main tuna-fishing provinces in Vietnam, however, many fishermen were unhappy in recent days because their output following weeks at sea was not as high as they expected, Bnews reported.
Vietnam’s overall tuna exports fell 9.8 percent last year to USD 649 million (EUR 539.6 million), which VASEP blamed on lower global demand caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic also disrupted the global tuna supply chain, making it harder for local processors to purchase material from other countries.
Photo courtesy of Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers
