According to statistics from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Vietnam’s tuna exports by the end of August had earned 648 million USD. This was a sharp increase of 19% over the same period last year.
In terms of market, the three single countries that are importing the most tuna from Vietnam are the US, Israel, and Russia. The US alone spent more than 243 million USD to buy tuna from Vietnam, up 17% over the same period last year.
Israel ranked second with more than 48 million USD, a sharp increase of 47% compared to last year.
Notably, Russia was the market with a strong increase in Vietnam’s tuna imports among the main markets and ranked third with 29 million USD. This was a sharp increase of 90% over the same period last year.
Tuna exports increased sharply by 19%.
Among Vietnamese tuna products exported to Russia, frozen tuna meat/loin was the main item, accounting for 75% of total export turnover. In 2023, Vietnam had more than 15 enterprises participating in tuna exports to the Russian market.
Tariff incentives after Vietnam signed the Vietnam-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement (VN-EAEUFTA) in 2015 helped Vietnam’s seafood, including tuna, have great competitiveness in these markets, especially the Russian market.
Specifically, Vietnam is currently the third-largest tuna supplier to Russia after China and Thailand. While Vietnam’s main export item, frozen tuna meat/loin code HS030487, which is under VN-EAEUFTA, is free from tax when exported to Russia, Chinese and Thai products are subject to 3.8% tax.
The transportation from Vietnam to Russia is more convenient now. Russian shipping corporations have opened direct routes from Ho Chi Minh City to Hai Phong to Vladivostok. There have been a number of other shipping lines with new routes, making it faster to transport goods.
Not only is it a billion-dollar export item since 2022, tuna also has a lot of uses for health. It helps reduce cardiovascular disorders, stimulate growth and development, lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and lose weight. Tuna also has the ability to boost the immune system, increase energy, support skin care, increase red blood cell count, and prevent cancer.
In 2023, along with the difficulties of the world economy, Vietnam’s tuna exports only brought in 845 million USD, down 17%. In the first quarter of 2024, tuna products were exported to more than 80 markets. Meanwhile, it was 70 markets last year. However, experts forecast that the tuna industry will find it difficult to achieve the target of a billion USD in 2022.