(vasep.com.vn) Vietnam's tuna export to Italy dropped steadily from the beginning of 2015 till September. According to statistics from Vietnam Customs, the country earned over US$ 1.9 million from tuna exports in September only, about 6 times as much as last year's result. However, tuna exports through September declined 39% year on year to over US$ 9.5 million.
Last year, loin was the major tuna product Vietnam sent to Italy accounting for nearly 93% of total tuna exports to the market, valuing nearly US$ 14.5 million. This year, it declined to US$ 926 thousand, taking up for only 9.2% of total tuna exports to the market.
In contrast, exports of tuna fresh/live/frozen/dried spiked to nearly US$ 8.3 million, equivalent to 15-fold of last year's result and accounted for 87%.
This year, Italy got out of recession but the economy remained at a low level. Consumer spending was low, therefore, Italy's tuna imports still fell. The market's tuna imports in H1/2015 surpassed US$ 410 million, down 19.5% year on year. Statistics from the International Trade Centre (ITC), the Italian market is currently world's 5th largest tuna importing market.
Italy sourced tuna from 42 countries around the world. Indonesia, Ecuador and Mauritius were top producers to this market. Vietnam now ranks the 13th among non-EU tuna sources.
With the exeption of Indonesia, the leading source, tuna imports from all countries in H1/2015 went down. In H1/2015, Italian spent nearly US$ 35 million on tuna products from Indonesia, up 133.6% year on year. Nearly all (99.7%) tuna sold from Indonesia to Italy was loin.
This year, supplies from the main tuna manufacturers in the Philippines and Thailand decreased, giving the floor to Indonesia. Though having advantages in tariff, tuna exports from Ecuador and the Philippines were down by 42% and 39%, respectively.
