(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the first three months of 2018, Vietnam’s tuna exports totaled US$137 million, up 13% over the same period in 2017. Exports to most of major markets recorded the good growth from the same period last year.
Exports of fresh/live/frozen/dried tuna declined by 16%, while those of other tuna products all increased compared to the same period in 2017. Sales of frozen tuna loins/fillets (HS code 0304) continued to take a large share of 49%, followed by canned tuna with 28%.
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The top eight major tuna importing markets of Vietnam included the U.S, the EU, Israel, ASEAN, Japan, Canada, Mexico and China, accounting for 88% of Vietnam’s total tuna export value. Exports to most of these markets witnessed the good growth, except the U.S, Canada and Mexico.
The U.S
After the growth in January, tuna exports to the U.S were on the downward trend. In the first three months of this year, Vietnam's tuna exports to the U.S gained US$40.8 million, down 8.4% over the same period last year. However, the U.S continues to be Vietnam's largest tuna buyer in Jan-Mar 2018, accounting for 30%.
In the period, although Vietnam's other processed tuna exports to the U.S increased by 164% over the same period last year, with the share of 8% in the total export value, this didn’t offset for the decrease in the total exports. Specifically, exports of frozen tuna loins/fillets hit US$24 million, down 12%; exports of canned tuna were US$13 million, down 11%; and exports of fresh/live/frozen/dried tuna reached US$534 thousand, down 58%. In this quarter, frozen tuna loins/fillets remained as the main export product of Vietnam.
The EU
Vietnam's tuna exports to the EU continued the upward trend. The figure in the first three months of 2018 was US$34.5 million, up 25% over the same period.
Exports of Vietnam’s tuna products in this period increased, except for canned tuna. Frozen raw tuna loins/fillets HS code 0304 remained as still the key export products, accounting for 40% of total export value. In the period, sales of other processed tuna to the market sharply increased by 332% to see US$ 6 million.
Japan
In the first three months of this year, Vietnam's tuna export to Japan showed the good growth from a year before. The figure in Jan-Mar this year reached US$6.2 million, up 27% over the same period in 2017.
Exports of fresh/live/frozen/dried tuna to Japan decreased by 95% over the same period while sales of other tuna products of Vietnam to the market had grown well.