Israel remains Vietnam’s largest tuna import market in the Middle East and is also among the country’s major tuna importers globally. This suggests that it is not only a market for mass products but also one with relatively diverse demand across different segments.
In 2025, Vietnam’s tuna exports to Israel reached over USD 39 million, down nearly 40% compared to 2024. This reflects a sharp drop in Israel’s import demand amid geopolitical instability, rising logistics costs, and the need for importers to restructure their supply sources. Over the past year, Israeli importers have tended to diversify suppliers, increasing purchases from Thailand, Ecuador, and the Philippines due to their advantages in pricing and more stable supply.
This is a key point Vietnamese businesses need to pay attention to. Israel is no longer a market where Vietnam can rely heavily on its existing position. Competitive pressure now mainly comes from suppliers with larger scale, more competitive pricing, and more stable delivery chains. In recent years, Thailand has consistently been the largest supplier of canned tuna to Israel, with Vietnam ranking second. However, recent trends show that Israel is expanding sourcing from multiple origins to reduce dependence on a few partners and optimize input costs.
On the demand side, Israel’s tuna import outlook may be supported by two main factors. First, the OECD notes that the cost of living in Israel remains very high, and trade barriers, import procedures, and low competition have contributed to elevated consumer prices. Recent import reforms are expected to increase competition and reduce prices. Second, from January 1, 2025, Israel began implementing a new food reform package, incorporating more than 40 European regulations and guidelines into domestic law, covering most food and beverage products. This indicates a policy trend toward greater openness, harmonized standards, and reduced technical barriers for importers.
For Vietnamese tuna exporters, this presents a notable opportunity. As Israel promotes import reforms to lower consumer prices, convenient, long-shelf-life, and high-utility food products such as canned tuna, frozen tuna, and semi-processed tuna are likely to maintain strong demand. In the short term, import demand is expected to prioritize suppliers offering reasonable prices, reliable delivery, and straightforward compliance documentation, rather than higher-priced products or those with longer lead times. Therefore, Vietnam’s opportunity lies not only in selling more, but in targeting the right segments: processed, convenient products with stable quality and cost efficiency.
A new advantage for Vietnamese products is the Vietnam–Israel Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect on November 17, 2024. According to official sources, Israel immediately eliminated tariffs on 66.3% of tariff lines, with the remainder to be reduced gradually. This provides an important foundation for Vietnamese processed food products, including tuna, to improve price competitiveness in this market during 2025–2027.
However, tariff preferences do not mean businesses can be complacent. Israel remains a market sensitive to quality, traceability, and supply consistency. Although import reforms are moving toward harmonization with European standards, exporters still need to carefully verify specific import requirements with partners and relevant authorities before shipping. At the same time, regional security tensions and disruptions to shipping routes through the Red Sea remain factors that could increase logistics costs and affect importers’ purchasing decisions.
Looking ahead, if no new geopolitical or logistics shocks occur, Israel’s tuna imports in 2026 are likely to continue improving from the low base of 2025. However, competition in this market is expected to intensify, particularly in the mid-priced segment.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) On July 9, 2026, the Embassy of Vietnam in Brazil organized the seminar titled “Sharing Information on Vietnam-Brazil Economic, Trade and Investment Relations in the First Half of 2026” to provide updates on bilateral cooperation and strengthen connections among government agencies, industry associations, and business communities of the two countries.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Seafood exports in the first 6 months of the year continued to be a bright spot with a total turnover of 5.7 billion USD, an increase of 11.4% compared to the same period last year. By commodity group, seafood is one of the three groups with a trade balance in the first 6 months of 2026 in a surplus state with 4.13 billion USD, an increase of 17%.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) For many years, Vietnam’s seafood industry has been recognized as one of the country’s key export pillars. Products such as shrimp, pangasius, tuna, squid, octopus, and a wide range of other seafood have reached hundreds of markets worldwide. Yet behind these impressive export figures lies a significant challenge: a substantial share of Vietnam’s seafood export value still comes from minimally processed products, contract manufacturing, and raw material exports—segments characterized by low profit margins and high vulnerability to fluctuations in global prices.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the context of a global economy shifting powerfully toward green and sustainable values, Vietfish 2026 is far more than just a commercial trade fair. It has become a strategic rendezvous and a "comprehensive ecosystem"—a convergence of value, knowledge, and sustainable growth opportunities for the entire industry chain.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s pangasius exports to Colombia continued their strong upward momentum in May 2026. Export value to the market reached USD 4 million, up 24% compared to the same month in 2025. Cumulative exports in the first five months of 2026 totaled USD 24 million, an impressive 48% increase year-on-year.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Hai Phong's aquaculture sector is accelerating the adoption of high technologies in aquaculture to adapt to climate change, with red tilapia and tilapia identified as the key cultured species for priority development.
(vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s seafood exports reached nearly US$1.1 billion in June 2026, up 21.0% year-on-year. Cumulative exports in the first half of 2026 totaled nearly US$5.8 billion, representing a 12.8% increase compared with the same period last year. Exports to China and Hong Kong continued to accelerate, while shipments to the United States rebounded strongly in June. In contrast, exports to the EU, Japan, and the Middle East remained sluggish or recorded slight declines.
(vasep.com.vn) Tilapia is playing an increasingly important role in Vietnam’s aquaculture sector, driven not only by growing market opportunities but also by its ability to meet increasingly stringent requirements on quality, food safety, and traceability. In practice, tilapia farming in Vietnam is not a spontaneous or loosely regulated activity; rather, it operates under a comprehensive legal and technical framework covering the entire value chain—from hatcheries and farming to processing and exports.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s shrimp exports reached USD 1.9 billion in the first five months of 2026, up 12% compared with the same period last year. Amid continued volatility in the global seafood market, this result demonstrates that the shrimp sector has maintained positive growth momentum, supported by improving demand in several Asian markets, particularly China.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) On June 16, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Ca Mau Province announced that the locality has established a farming area code for nearly 30,400 hectares of mud crab aquaculture and granted export facility codes to five enterprises eligible to export mud crab officially to markets such as China, Cambodia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
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