Exports of tuna from Vietnam to Italy have declined dramatically this year despite the ongoing economic recovery in the European country, according to new statistics from Vietnam Customs – published by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
The Southeast Asian country’s tuna exports to Italy for the nine months through September 2015 declined 39 percent year-on-year to around USD 9.5 million (EUR 8.9 million).
Furthermore, whereas last year loins were the main tuna product exported by Vietnam to Italy, accounting for 93 percent of its total tuna exports to the market and valued at around USD 14.5 million (EUR 13.5), this year the trade has slumped to just USD 926,000 (EUR 862,626), accounting for only 9.2 percent of Vietnam’s total tuna exports to the market.
In contrast, Vietnam’s exports of fresh, live, frozen and dried tuna to the market increased 15-fold to a value of USD 8.3 million (EUR 7.7 million).
While Italy is no longer in recession, consumer spending has remained at a low level. In the first half of this year, the country imported USD 410 million (EUR 382 million) worth of tuna, down 19.5 percent year-on-year.
According to the International Trade Centre (ITC), Italy is currently the 5th largest tuna importing market in the world, sourcing products from 42 different countries. Its main suppliers are Indonesia, Ecuador and Mauritius, while Vietnam now ranks the 13th among non-EU tuna sources.
With the exception of Indonesia, Italy’s tuna imports from all countries decreased in H1 2015. In this period, the Italian market spent around USD 35 million (EUR 32.6 million) on Indonesian tuna products, up 133.6 percent year-on-year. Almost all of those imports were loins.
