Vietnam’s tuna exports for the first nine months of 2017 achieved a total value of USD 429.7 million (EUR 356.5 million), up more than 21 percent year-on-year, with strong growth in its shipments to the United States and Israel.
According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the Southeast Asian country’s tuna exports to the U.S. market for January through September reached USD 168.7 million (EUR 140 million), accounting for more than 39 percent of Vietnam’s total overseas tuna trade – up almost 17 percent over the same period last year. The States continued to be the leading buyer of Vietnamese tuna.
Processed skipjack and canned tuna products accounted for the largest share of tuna imports into the U.S. market. Citing Globefish's latest statistics, VASEP said the average import price of canned/processed tuna into the United States ranged from USD 4.50 (EUR 3.73) to USD 5 (EUR 4.15) per kg, which was higher than that in the last two years.
Prices from Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines were equal and close to the average, while prices from Fiji and Ecuador were the highest at USD 5.50 (EUR 4.56) to USD 5.80 (EUR 4.81) per kg, it said.
Vietnam exported USD 34.9 million (EUR 29 million) worth of tuna to Israel in the aforementioned period, an increase of more than 109 percent. As such, the Middle Eastern country became the third largest buyer of Vietnamese tuna.
In particular, Israel increased its imports of canned tuna from Vietnam, while last year it increased those of fresh, frozen and dried tuna, noted VASEP.
Vietnam was the second largest canned tuna supplier to Israel behind Thailand. In the frozen tuna segment, Vietnam dominated the market and had almost no competitors.
