(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In Jan – Feb 2019, Vietnam’s tuna sales to China rocketed by 771%, pushing the market to the fifth largest importer of Vietnamese tuna after the US, the EU, Israel and the ASEAN.
According to the International Trade Centre, in 2018, Vietnam was the 11th biggest tuna supplier of China, accounting for the small market share of 3 percent.
Particularly, frozen tuna loin/fillet from Vietnam and the ASEAN member countries are exempted from tax in the Chinese market. The advantage allowed Vietnam to become the leading provider of frozen tuna loin/fillet to the market with the market share of 65 percent in 2018.
In 2019, Vietnam’s export of frozen tuna loin/fillet to China tend to rise. In the first two months of this year, Vietnam’s exports of tuna loin/fillet (HS 0304) to China accounted for 94% of the total export value of Vietnamese tuna to China. Besides, Vietnam also exports fresh/live/frozen tuna products to the market.
Although China is a small importer of Vietnam tuna among large importers (EU and the US), China is considered to be a potential market of Vietnam tuna.