Japan-based Evertrust Foods has begun construction on a new tuna processing plant in central Vietnam, with the goal of shipping products to Japan and other international markets.
The new project in Binh Dinh Province will cost USD 7.8 million (EUR 6.8 million) and the first phase of the project is scheduled to be completed by June 2019, Evertrust Foods’ Sales Director Le Hoai Phuong told SeafoodSource on 18 October.
The plant will have capacity of 2,000 metric tons (MT) per year when operational. Phuong did not specify whether that estimated capacity referred to the first phase of the project or whether it was contingent upon finalizing the project’s second phase, for which the company has not yet specified a timeline.
On its website, Evertrust showcases mostly fresh tuna products. The company has targeted Japan, the United States, the European Union, and other Asian countries, including the domestic market in Vietnam, as its primary markets, Phuong said.
Evertrust Foods is already running another tuna processing plant with a 1,200 MT capacity in Khanh Hoa Province, also in central Vietnam, Phuong said.
Fishermen in Binh Dinh, where the new plant is located, were the first in Vietnam to have adopted the advanced tuna catching method handed over by Japan in 2014. The first cargo of 450 kilograms caught by the new method was exported to Japan in August that year, according to reports from Binh Dinh provincial government.
Binh Dinh currently catches about 10,000 MT of tuna each year, local media said.
Exports of tuna from Vietnam to Japan in the first half of this year were worth USD 14 million (EUR 12.2 million), up 32 percent from a year earlier, according to customs data.
Photo courtesy of Bao Binh Dinh
