Source: The Saigon Times Daily
While shrimp processors recorded modest export revenue growth in the first quarter and tra fish exporters were unable to pull themselves out of trouble, tuna exporters saw positive developments.
As of mid-March, the export value of tuna products had amounted to USD 101 million, rising 23.1% over the same period last year, said the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
Sudan and Tunisia were the fastest-growing markets, with shipments to the latter growing an enormous 809%. Meanwhile, tuna exports to Sudan in January alone were twice as much as the export value of the whole last year, growing 356.6%, making Sudan one of the top ten tuna importers of Vietnam.
The major tuna buyers namely the European Union (EU), Japan, Switzerland, and Israel also recorded impressive growth of 36.7%, 90.6%, 96.6% and 95.6% respectively.
Among the EU nations, growth in the German and Italian markets is most notable. Despite the economic woes caused by the Eurozone debt crisis, Germany still remains the biggest importer of Vietnamese tuna, with the growth of 87.8%, while Italy contributed growth of 153%.
Canada also boosted tuna imports from Vietnam after it shifted the import from low-grade tuna to high-grade one.
Exports to the U.S and Lebanon, however, slightly dropped by 2.9% and 3.6% respective.
The reorganization of tuna fishing stages and the pilot implementation of a new fishing model have showed high effectiveness, partially solving the shortage of material tuna.
Moreover, the application of the “mother ship-feeder ship†model in certain provinces has produced positive results. In the current context, the model to link seafood exploitation and consumption under deployment in Phu Yen is an economical production method, with a closed process from fishing, purchasing, processing to export, thus boosting the fish value enjoyed by fishermen.