Exports of tuna fell 15% in September

Vietnamese tuna exports continued to decline in September 2021, falling to approximately USD 51 million, compared to the same month previous year.

Tuna exports in Vietnam are incapable of recovery post pandemic. Photo: TL. 

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs (Ministry of Finance), the value of tuna exports to many key markets decreased year on year. Tuna shipments to the US market fell 7.6 percent year on year in September.

Tuna shipments to the EU market also dropped 25% in September. All three of the bloc's major markets, including Italy, Germany, and Spain, saw declines. According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), increasing sea freight costs and high steel prices are impeding the import of canned tuna to the US and EU markets and making it difficult to recover.

Tuna shipments to CPTPP markets also dropped precipitously in September, with turnover down 28 percent year over year to almost USD 6 million in September. Export values fell simultaneously in the bloc's four biggest markets, notably Canada, Japan, Mexico, and Chile.

Vietnam's tuna exports have decreased for the second straight month, compared to the same time last year. Previously, tuna shipments fell 19 percent in August.

According to VASEP, the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak in southern Vietnam's provinces was directly responsible for the decline in tuna exports, since it has harmed companies' processing and export operations in recent months.

In many MARD meetings, the Directorate of Fisheries and allied agencies expected this result. While several provinces and towns have removed social embargoes since September, many companies have been unable to restart operations under the "three on-sites" model. The majority of them only work around 30 percent of the time.

Vietnam's tuna exports fell for two consecutive months, but collectively in the first nine months of 2021, they totaled approximately USD521 million, up 9 percent over the same time in 2020.

Apart from the usual markets, Vietnam has increased its tuna exports to countries such as China and Israel. Export value to the Chinese market rose by 332 percent interannually, particularly in the first half of September 2021. Vietnam is presently Israel's biggest tuna supplier, with accumulation increasing 34% year over year as of the middle of August 2021.

A number of industrial parks in the Central and South Central areas began reopening in Q4 of 2021. When combined with rising import demand in key markets such as the United States, the European Union, and Canada in the last months of the year, companies are advised to plan ahead for export shipments.