Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Data from the GeneralDepartment of Vietnam Customs showed tuna export revenue dropped 13% in February with no signs of improvement in March.Total tuna export value in the first three months of this year is estimated at 160million USD.
According to theVietnam Seafood Producers and Exporters (VASEP), the price of Vietnamese tunais higher than that of other suppliers in major markets such as Europeancountries and the US, but the increasing prices of material tuna are slowingdown the flow of orders from importers, affecting Vietnam’s tuna exports to these markets.
Nguyen Ha, an expert fromVASEP, forecast that Vietnam will continue to see a sharp drop in tuna export in thecoming months.
Among theComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)members, although strong growth was seen in the Japanese and Mexican markets inFebruary at 28% and 194%, respectively, the increase was not enough to make up for the fall in the largest tuna consumption market of Canada where an 81% reduction wasrecorded in the month.
In this context,exporters are exploring smaller markets. Ha said that the value of tuna export to European markets in February rose 59% year on year to nearly 14 million USD, and is expected to top 33 million USD in the first quarter of 2023.
Strong growth was also recorded in potential small marketssuch as the Republic of Korea (525%), the UK (182%),Australia (104%), Finland (654%), and Algeria (363%).
VASEP GeneralSecretary Truong Dinh Hoe said that amid high inflation, consumers tend tochoose products with lower prices. Meanwhile, input cost remains one ofthe barriers of the tuna sector.
However, he showed optimisticin exports to markets that share free trade agreements (FTA) with Vietnam. VASEP predicted that market demand will generally recover in the second half of2023, leading to the recovery of the domestic tuna sector.
Vietnam has high tunareserve at about 600,000 tonnes, mostly in Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Khanh Hoaprovinces./.
VNA
