Tuna export grows slightly due to shortage of raw material

Tuna is one of the key exporting products of Vietnam, accounting for 7.4 percent of the total nationwide seafood export value and tuna sector is facing with the lack of raw material. The lack of raw tuna is caused by insecurity in East Sea and the increasing cost for off-shore fishing.

The low domestic supply and high demand of raw tuna urged Vietnam tuna processors to import the raw material to ensure the company’s operation and jobs for their workers. However, the high raw tuna import tax (12 - 18 percent), together with the complication in Customs and tax procedures can not ease the domestic processors’ difficulties in raw material.

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has lately issued the official letter responding to the official letter No. 08/2011/VASEP-VPĐD of Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) (dated March 29th 2011). In VASEP’s official letter to MoF, it recommended solutions to facilitate domestic seafood processors to import raw material. MoF agreed with VASEP’s recommendations to remove complicated procedures for processors in importing raw material.

According to Vietnam Customs, in July 2011, Vietnam tuna export reached 5.7 thousand MT, down sharply on that of the same month of last year (27.1 percent), but tuna export value was up slightly 0.7 percent.

In the first seven months of 2011, Vietnam shipped 50.5 thousand MT of tuna to 81 foreign markets, worth nearly US$232 million, up 28.3 percent in value but up only 3.5 percent in volume in which raw tuna products (HS code 03), accounting for 66.2 percent of the total nationwide tuna export value, reached nearly 26 thousand MT, worth US$153.5 million, up 17.9 percent in value and 33.1 percent in value against the same period of 2010. Processed tuna products (HS code 16) was down 8.4 percent in volume and up almost 20 percent in value.