Tuna exports – Swimming against the tide

Suffering from a long-term decline, tuna exports in November have shown signs of rebounding in the months11 leading to December at around US$450 million, cumulatively.

However, the forecast is that the sector is falling far short of this year’s target of US$580 million in gross export revenues. Local tuna processors and exporters are facing a number of difficulties such as shortage of materials, consumption declines and lower prices.

Although overall seafood exports to the US are on the upswing jumping 12% over last year, it’s not enough to compensate for the tuna shortage earlier in the year. Overall, US tuna exports have had a dismal year dropping 9.5% to US$172 million in the 11 month period.

Exports to the EU in the reviewed period have also dipped slightly by 1.48% to US$120 million. Meanwhile exports to Japan have grown in the second quarter of the year but have dropped again in the third quarter.

In the 11 months leading up to December, export revenues to the Japanese market grossed around US$22 million, a disappointing year-on-year decrease of 46.2%.

VASEP Secretary General Truong Dinh Hoe says despite businesses’ great effort and recovery in many markets, a sharp decline in some key export markets has been the main cause of low tuna revenues this year.

Being afraid of shortage of materials, many countries in the world had accelerated importing tuna in period 2012-2013, which conversely turned around and reduced import volume in 2014.

In addition, every year Vietnam has to import certain of material tuna for processing, however this year’s import volume from other countries has been limited and lower than previous years.

The overstocking in the two year period from 2012-2103 and the reduction of current year imports are the two main causes that the tuna sector cannot fulfil this year’s plan, Hoe says.

VASEP forecasts that tuna exports are likely to hit US$500 million this year, down 4% against a year earlier.

Vietnam’s tuna now is exported to 87 countries and territories throughout the world. Three major markets – the US, Japan and the EU – account for 46% of total export revenues.

Next year, if a free trade agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and EU and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are signed they will offer better opportunities for export markets.

However, to promote sustainable exports, tuna processing and exporting firms have to have a more coordinated and comprehensive effort to raise their competitiveness and high-tech added value for their products.

In a long-term, the Government should issue a master policy to create a close connection among, fishermen, processors and exporters to raise competitiveness of Vietnamese tuna products on international market.