February 5, 2009
Vietnam tuna export seen strong amid gloomy seafood shipments
The outlook for Vietnam's seafood exports is forecast to be gloomy this year due to a plunge in global consumer demand but the potential for tuna export remains strong, according to exporters.
The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said demand for tunas would grow strongly in key foreign markets such as the EU, Japan, Israel and the US.
VASEP said that while tunas are in great demand, the output in major exporting countries is dwindling.
Last year saw 84 domestic companies exporting about 53,000 tonnes of tuna at a total value of US$189 million, up 25 percent year-on-year.
The key importers were the EU with around US$63 million, the US with nearly US$55 million and Japan with US$23 million.
Israel is a new export market for Vietnamese companies but its tuna imports from Vietnam last year grew 191 percent year-on-year to US$6.4 million.
The country's 2008 seafood outbound sales rose 20 percent from the previous year to US$4.5 billion, with tunas classified as the seafood industry's fourth biggest foreign currency earner after tiger shrimp, catfish and squid.
