Tuna exports to the U.S. reduced slightly

In which exports of raw tuna products (HS 03 code) reached US$120.3 million, accounting for 70 percent and increasing 60 percent compared to the same period of 2011; exports of processed products (HS 16 code) touched US$55 million, rising 45.7 percent.

Tuna shipments to 10 key markets made up over 80 percent of total tuna exports in the nationwide. While tuna exports to markets reported positive growth, however exports to the U.S. and Iran reduced by 3.3 percent and 76 percent, respectively over 2011.

Tuna exports to the U.S. (the traditional largest tuna consumer of Vietnam) achieved US$75.8 million, making up 43.3 percent of total Vietnam tuna export value in the first four months of 2012.

Delivering tuna to the U.S., domestic exporters face competitiveness of other suppliers such as Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia... Besides, trade and technical barriers and high freight cost are also exposing hindrance to tuna exporters.

According to Vietnam Customs, in recent years, tuna exports to the U.S. were stable. However, in 2012, tuna exports to the market performed unstably. Compared to the same period of 2011, exports to the U.S in January reached US$14.5 million (down 34 percent), US$16.2 million in February (up 32.5 percent), US$24.6 million in March (a surprisingly increase of 15 percent). But in April, tuna exports to the market only reached over US$20 million, down 16 percent compared to the previous month and 10.5 percent compared to April 2011.

In Jan – Apr 2012, tuna exports to the U.S are mostly fresh and frozen products (HS 03 code) with the export value of over US$50 million, making up 70 percent of total Vietnam tuna exports to the market and reducing by nearly 15 percent compared to the same period of 2011 while exports of processed tuna (HS 16 code) reached US$24.7 million, up 34.2 percent.

The U.S.’s demand for value added products is increasingly high. This is an opportunity for tuna exporters to aggressively diversify their exported products, particularly value added ones to speed up exporting and satisfy the demand.

According to the Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS), in the first three months of 2012, the U.S. imported 55.8 thousand MT of tuna, worth by US$311 million from 48 suppliers in the world. In the list of tuna suppliers for the U.S., Vietnam overtook Indonesia to hold the third position after Thailand and the Philippines with imported volume of 4.6 thousand MT and the value of US$31 million, making up 10 percent of total tuna import value of the U.S.

Now, due to global economic headwinds, some rivals of Vietnam in the U.S. market have signs of reducing tuna export value to the U.S. compared to the same period of 2011. Thailand’s tuna exports sank 10 percent, Indonesia reduced 31 percent.