Since the beginning of the year, Russia has spent more than 10 million USD to buy tuna from Vietnam.
According to Vietnam Customs, in the first quarter of 2024 alone, the export value of tuna reached nearly 10 million USD, which was a sharp increase of 65% over the same period in 2023. With this growth rate, Russia is Vietnam’s fourth-largest single market, accounting for 4.65%. Meanwhile, Vietnam’s tuna export turnover in the first quarter reached 215 million USD, up 19% over the same period in 2023.
Tuna from Vietnam is favoured by the Russians.
Among Vietnamese tuna products exported to Russia, frozen tuna meat/loin was the key product, accounting for 75% of the total export turnover.
Currently, the transportation of goods from Vietnam to Russia is more convenient. Russian transport corporations have opened direct routes from Ho Chi Minh City to Hai Phong and Vladivostok. In addition, there is a railway system that makes the delivery more diverse and easier.
Tariff incentives, thanks to the Vietnam-European Economic Union Free Trade Agreement (VN-EEAEUFTA) in 2015, also helped Vietnam’s seafood products, including tuna, have great competitiveness in this market, especially in Russia.
Specifically, Vietnam is now the third-largest tuna supplier to the Russian market after China and Thailand. Vietnam’s key item, frozen tuna meat/loin code HS030487, is free from tax under the agreement VN-EEAEUFTA when being exported to Russia. Meanwhile, Chinese and Thai products are subject to a 3.8% tax.
The United States has banned Russian fish products. Due to these restrictions, in 2023, Russia’s seafood exports decreased by 5% in value, to 5.8 billion USD. After the sanctions were imposed, China became Russia’s main seafood export market (accounting for 49.6% in volume and 49.8% in value).
Since the beginning of the year, Vietnamese tuna exporters have made efforts to expand the export market. In 2023, along with the difficulties of the world economy, Vietnam’s tuna exports only earned 845 million USD, down 17%. In the first quarter of 2024, tuna products were exported to more than 80 markets, compared to 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. /.