Tuna export to Canada soars
Vietnam’s tuna industry has bounced back strongly post-pandemic as export soared 72% year-on-year to US$259 million in the first quarter of 2022, the highest in five years, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
The figure is 1.6 times that the same period of 2019, before the pandemic struck.
Shipments to the markets of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) members rose by 49% in March. The three-month figure surged 40% to US$30.4 million.
Canada was an emerging buyer, importing some US$14 million worth of tuna from Vietnam from January – March, up 70% from a year earlier and doubling that of 2019. Canada accounted for nearly 5% of Vietnam’s total tuna export, making it the second largest importer of the Southeast Asian country, only after the US, and the biggest among the CPTPP markets.
Vietnam was Canada’s second largest supplier, after Thailand, that made up some 12% of Canada’s total import. Vietnam also made itself known as the biggest provider of frozen tuna to Canada.
Given that both countries are signatories to the CPTPP, there is still plenty of room for Vietnam’s tuna products to expand its presence in Canada largely thanks to preferential duties under the trade deal, the VASEP anticipated. Export to Canada will be likely to be on a further rise in the coming time, it said.