Tuna exports keep growing

Exports of tuna products would continue to increase this year after a successful 2010, said the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

The association expected to export 120,000 tonnes of tuna in 2011, earning US$300 million. Exports would jump by 16,400 tonnes in volume and $13 million in value compared to last year.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation said consumption of seafood, including tuna products, would continue increasing in Asia and Europe as increasing numbers of consumers looked for healthy alternatives to meat, the association said.

To attain their target, local tuna exporters would focus on improving the quality of tuna products, developing the Vietnamese tuna brand and diversify products, said VASEP expert Nguyen Minh Tam.

At the end of last year, the Viet Nam Tuna Association was established to act as a bridge between fishermen and enterprises. The association would increase the sustainable development and branding of Vietnamese tuna products in the coming period, she said.

The association would also develop modern tuna trawler crews to match international standards. Last year, the fisheries industry noted a year-on-year 49.5 per cent increase in tuna exports to 82,600 tonnes and a 62 per cent jump in value to $287 million.

High prices

The increase was aided by high export prices for tuna products and high demand, Tam said. Average annual export prices registered a year-on-year increase of 8 per cent to $3.49 per kilo for Vietnamese tuna products in 2010.

In 2010, the US imported 35,000 tonnes of tuna products with a total value of $135 million. Exports surged by 54.6 per cent in volume and 94.6 per cent in value compared with 2009. Meanwhile, Viet Nam exported 170,000 tonnes to the EU, earning $62 million in 2010.

Exports increased by 3.9 per cent in volume and 12 per cent in value against 2009. The association said the EU would continue to be a major market for Vietnamese tuna products in the coming period.

However, local exporters needed to ensure quality and food safety standards to guarantee the sustainable development of the market for Vietnamese tuna.

Meanwhile, European importers have resumed signing contracts to buy tra fish at a price of US$3/kg for fillets but remain reluctant to order in large quantities or enter into contracts of longer than two months due to what they see as temporarily inflated prices.

A few tra breeders were offering prices of $2.90-2.95/kg, but if exporters failed to adhere to this price, a new price floor would be imposed, VASEP said.

According to a market survey conducted in Spain in December, sources of white-meat fish in Europe have continued to decline, so demand for imports were expected to increase, with current high prices likely to ensure higher profit margins for exporters.

Duong Ngoc Minh, chairman of VASEP’s Freshwater Fish Commission, said the output of fish processors would continue to be limited at least through September to ensure strong prices for exporters. Higher prices, Minh said, would also help reduce the imposition of technical barriers in many export markets. — VNS

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