(seafood.vasep.com.vn) After a period of continuous decline, Vietnam's tuna export to the US in 2018 recovered in the last 3 months. Overall, total tuna export value from Vietnam to the US in 2018 still increased by 1.7% compared to 2017, reaching US$230 million. The reason for this growth was that the US restricted import of shipments from China due to the increase in tuna import tax.
In 2018, the US increased the import of fresh, frozen and dried tuna products from Vietnam. Frozen fillets/loin tuna were the main export products from Vietnam to the US in 2018, accounting for 63%. During this period, the export of canned tuna to the US continued to decline. Meanwhile, exporting other processed tuna products went up.
Imported canned tuna to the U.S is increasing. Including canned tuna from the three largest suppliers, Thailand, Ecuador and China, Vietnam is currently the 4th largest canned tuna supplier to the US market, out of 37 countries exporting this product line.
The trend of products made from tuna to the US continues to increase. China supplied the largest share of this product line to the US market. According to statistics from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the average FOB price of this product imported to the US increased by 11% over the same period last year, but the products of tuna family still have a lower price than skipjack.
Import tax has increased from 4% to 10% for products imported from China. Meanwhile, Import taxes from other countries remain at 4% lower than 12.5% of traditional skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna, or longfin tuna. This is creating an unfair competition for traditional canned tuna products.
In the market segment of frozen fillet/loin tuna, export from Vietnam continued to increase. Currently, Indonesia and Vietnam continue to be the largest tuna suppliers to the US market, with the proportion of 38% and 36% respectively. In the first 10 months of 2018, the average price of frozen tuna fillet/loin in the US ranged from US$ 11-12/kg, the price of imports from Indonesia also fluctuated in this range. Meanwhile, Vietnam's price of frozen filet/loin tuna ranged from US$ 9.96 to US$ 11 /kg.