April 17, 2023

Vietnam's tuna exports to Spain up in February

Vietnam's tuna exports to Spain increased by 58% to US$1.6 million in February 2023, following a 34% decline in January, Fish Information & Services reported.

In the first two months of this year, Vietnam's tuna exports to Spain totaled US$2.5 million, a 4% increase over the same period in the previous year.

Spain is Vietnam's second biggest tuna export in the EU bloc, accounting for 2% of total export turnover, or nearly US$22 million. This was a 9% increase compared to 2021.

Vietnamese companies exported a variety of products to Spain in 2022, ranging from fresh and frozen fish to processed tuna products. By 2023, Spain will only be importing frozen tuna meat/loin products from Vietnam.

Because of the impact of fishing bans with Fish aggregating devices (FADs) in fishing grounds, the EU fleet's catches have decreased, forcing Spanish canned goods manufacturers to increase tuna imports from external sources, including Vietnam.

In the first two months of this year, Spanish importers stocked up on duty-free tuna loins from sources with preferential tariffs under FTAs such as Vietnam.

Vietnam is the fifth largest supplier of frozen tuna meat/loin to the Spanish market outside of the EU, accounting for 3.8% of the total import value of this product group. In 2022, Vietnam's tuna meat/loin products will be more competitive than those of other suppliers such as Ecuador and Mexico.

-      Fish Information & Services