Lower Catches Make Raw Material Availability For Thai Canners Shrinkff
3 July 2008
The Netherlands Thailand’s tuna canning industry is feeling the pressure of declining global tuna catches. Total purchases of frozen tuna equaled 712.600 M/T in 2007, which represented 8% less than the previous year, with 771.300 M/T; lower availability halts the expansion of industry.
The three top providers of frozen tuna to the tuna canning industry in Thailand were the fishing nations Taiwan, Vanuatu and Korea with 163.600 M/T, 133.000 M/T and 86.800 M/T, respectively. The 2007 figures represented a reduction for those countries at the level of 4%, 17% and 200 M/t, in that same order.
Some nations have increased their export volume of frozen raw tuna to Thailand like Japan, China, Indonesia, Solomon Islands and Seychelles. However, the numbers didn’t go up enough to compensate for the fall back caused by the other tuna supplying nations.
As the world leader of canned tuna production, Thailand’s import of frozen tuna has shown ups and downs since 2001, reaching its peak volume of 896.100 M/T in 2002.
