5,000 tonnes of tuna imported for locals

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam imports around 5,000 tonnes of tuna for local consumption demand every year, according to an official of the Vietnam Tuna Association.

Vu Dinh Dap, Chairman of the Association, said the nation has 3,600 ships to catch ocean tuna, mainly in Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa central provinces, with a total average output 17,000 tonnes of tuna per year.

However, recently, local tuna processors have been importing 4,000 tonnes to 5,000 tonnes of tuna every year to meet their demand on export processing due to the instability in the supply of tuna caught on the ocean, Dap said.

Now, Vietnam’s frozen tuna fillet products are exported to 100 countries and territories, including to the European Union, the United States, Japan and China.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) reported last year, local tuna exporting processors still imported material for export processing due to the difficulty in supply of material.

Vietnam reached a total import value of tuna at 214.9 million USD, an increase of 16.8 percent year-on-year from 36 countries and territories, including the Republic of Korea, China, Hong Kong and the EU, said the General Department of Customs.

In 2015, the tuna import value surged by 66 percent from the RoK to 45.7 million USD, and by 313 percent from the EU to 10.2 million USD compared with 2014.

The tuna imports from the EU were expected to increase further in the future due to the impact of the Vietnam–EU free trade agreement, according to VASEP.

Tuna exploitation output in the first months of this year was predicted to be low so tuna imports would continue, said VASEP.-VNA