Up 22.3% in Vietnam processed tuna sales

In the first 11 months of 2017, Vietnam’s tuna exports hit US$541.5 million, up 18% over the same period last year. In particular, the export value to most of major importing markets grew positively. Exports of frozen tuna products (HS code 03) accounted for 54.2% of total export value and increased by 14% year on year. Notably, despite the smaller proportion, sales of processed tuna products (HS code 16) increased nearly 22.3% over the same period last year.

According to the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the first 11 months of 2017, the total production of tuna in the central provinces including Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen reached 17,400 MT, up 8.8% over the same period last year. Interestingly, production in Binh Dinh province this year increased sharply by 19.3%. Meanwhile, the production in Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen decreased slightly compared to the same period in 2016. Higher production, stable raw tuna prices and high demand drove a rise in tuna exports of many enterprises in 2017.

The U.S

The U.S continues to be the largest tuna importer of Vietnam in the first 11 months of 2017 with the value of US$209.9 million, up 13.5% over the same period in 2016. According to ITC statistics, in the first 9 months of 2017, imports of processed/canned tuna (HS code 160414) accounted for the largest proportion of 54%-57.5% in the U.S tuna imports. Thailand, Ecuador, China, Vietnam and Fiji are the top five suppliers of processed and canned tuna (HS code 160414) to the U.S. Tuna imports from Thailand into the U.S decreased by 1,000 MT compared to the previous year, while the volume of imported tuna products from Ecuador, China and Vietnam increased.

The EU

In the first 11 months of 2017, Vietnam’s tuna exports to the EU reached US$128.7 million, up 29.8% over the same period last year. Of that, shipments to Italy, Germany and the Netherlands rose by 1.8%; 30.6% and 56.8% respectively. Exports of frozen tuna loins/fillets took the main share of Vietnam’s tuna exports to the EU, followed by canned tuna. Notably, Vietnam recently boosted exports of fresh/live/frozen tuna while reducing those of other processed tuna to the EU compared with the same period in 2016. According to ITC, tuna imports into EU countries in the first 8 months of 2017 reached over US$3.25 billion, up 20.7% over the same period in 2016.

In the first 8 months of 2017, imports of processed/canned tuna (HS code 160414) picked up the largest share of 72.4 to 83% in total tuna imports into the EU. In the period, the average import price of processed tuna in some large markets such as Spain, Germany and the UK increased over that in 2015 and 2016. In 2017, Vietnam’s tuna sales to many countries in the EU showed good signs, including Germany and the Netherlands.

Other potential importing markets

Vietnam’s tuna exports to some potential markets such as Israel; Japan, Mexico and Canada also posted the remarkable increases. Of that, Israel was a prominent market  of many companies. In several consecutive months since the beginning of the year, the value of tuna exports to Israel increased sharply. As of November 2017, Vietnam’s tuna exports to Israel reached US$39.4 million, up 86.7% over the same period last year.

Similar to the trend of exporting to Israel, Vietnam’s tuna exports to Japan also went up 21%; those to Mexico rose by 63.8% and those to Canada climbed by 22.4% over the same period in 2016.

In 2017, together with shrimp industry, tuna exports has contributed significantly to the overall growth rate of the fishery. Vietnam’s tuna exports in 2017 is forecasted to total US$615 million, up 21% from 2016.