07 July 2023

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP), after a decline in April 2023, Vietnam's tuna exports to EU countries increased again in May, up 15% over the same period in 2022.

However, this increase is not enough to compensate for the decline in previous months, so Vietnam's tuna exports in the first 5 months of 2023 will still decrease slightly by 4% over the same period last year.

Among EU countries, Germany and the Netherlands are respectively the 2 leading countries in Vietnam's tuna imports in the first 5 months of the year. Compared to the same period in 2022, Vietnam's tuna exports to Germany and the Netherlands both increased by 23% and 26%, respectively.

By the end of May 2023, Vietnam has more than 31 enterprises participating in exporting tuna to the EU market. In particular, FoodTech, Bidifisco and Yueh Chyang Canned Food are the 3 leading companies in exporting to this market block with the proportion accounting for more than 40% of total tuna export turnover.

Notably, while Vietnam's exports of tuna product groups in the first 5 months of 2023 to the EU all decreased over the same period, canned tuna exports increased sharply by 71% over the same period last year. With this increase, canned tuna is Vietnam's main export product to the EU during this period, with the proportion accounting for more than 50% of the total export value.

According to VASEP, this year, due to the impact of inflation, plus high inventories and an increase in canned tuna prices, EU importers tend to increase imports from tariff-preferential suppliers, including Vietnam.

Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe - Secretary General of VASEP - forecasted that seafood exports in general and tuna through the EU market are expected to gradually recover in the coming months and have better results than the first half of the year, thanks to better signals in consumer markets, as inventory decreases and enters the ordering season for year-end consumption and festive occasions.

"In a sense. Specifically, through the data of last 5 months, we found that seafood consumption is tending to recover. This is a good sign for exports in the year-end period," Mr. Hoe shared.

In addition to the above advantages, VASEP experts also warned that, in the face of the situation that skipjack tuna prices in the world have not cooled down, plus the preferential tariff quota that the EU gives to Vietnam's canned tuna products under the agreement in the Free Trade Agreement between the EU and Vietnam (EVFTA) is about to be used up. Therefore, enterprises need to have a better market access strategy so that export value is not reduced.