Processed and canned tuna imports into Germany fell

The tuna retail market of Germany mainly consists of private brands, in fact these brands accounted for a market share of 70-75%. Imported canned tuna products are mainly distributed by major retailers such as Edeka - the largest food retailer in Germany, REWE supermarket chain, and discount grocery stores (Aldi and Lidl).

In the first 9 months of 2019, Germany imported 58,368 MT of processed and canned tuna. Of which more than 77% of shipments are imported from non- EU countries. Ecuador exported nearly 220 tuna container to Germany and become the largest tuna supplier for Germany in 2018. But in 2019, due to high import prices of processed and canned tuna from Ecuador, orders from Germany decreased. Specifically, import volume of canned and processed tuna from Ecuador into Germany in the first 9 months of 2019 crashed by nearly 45%, reaching 10,315 MT. As a result, Ecuador is losing market share in food services segment in this market.

Papua New Guinea is also losing market share in Germany. The country exported more than 10,847 MT of processed and canned tuna to Germany in the first 9 months in 2018. However, export volume in the same period in 2019 was only 9,753 MT, down 6%.

The Philippines and Ghana are benefiting from that. Exports of processed and canned tuna of the Philippines in the first 9 months of 2019 rose by nearly 3%, reaching more than 13 million USD. The Philippines is currently the main distributor of canned and processed tuna products for Germany, not only for tuna products for retail market segment but also for food services.

Canned and processed tuna orders from Ghana into Germany also went up by 53% over the same period, reaching 3,354 tons. The main export products of this country to Germany were canned tuna with the sized cans of 2kg and 3kg, mainly for food services.

In 2019, the export volume of processed and canned tuna from Vietnam to this market has also declined by nearly 33% over the same period in 2018. Canned and processed tuna products of Vietnam has the lowest value compared to other countries (Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Ghana) as processed and canned tuna imported from Vietnam is subject to a high tax of 20.5%, while these countries are exempted from taxes.

In 2019, Spain - the leading tuna-processing country, is also losing market share in German market. In the first 9 months of 2019, the country exported only 2,740 MT of processed and canned tuna to Germany, less than 62% compared to the same period in 2018. This is due to the fact that Spanish suppliers have distributed to importers outside the EU. Germany imports more canned and processed products from the Netherland. The country plays the role as a transshipment hub in the EU, where containers are delivered and redistributed through warehouses and shipped to other EU markets. However, imports of processed and canned tuna from the Netherlands into Germany in 2019 also fell by 14% to 7,397 MT.