Tuna exports to the U.K. tripled year-on-year in the first two months of the year even as shipments to some main markets like the U.S. and E.U. plunged.

Exports to the U.K. were worth US$1.3 million, enabled by a 13-fold rise in February, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Vietnam now ranks 13th out of 45 countries and territories that export tuna to that country.

Last year its exports to the U.K. had risen by 10%.

Other markets to which Vietnam’s tuna exports grew by 32-99% in the first two months were Japan, Thailand, Germany, and Israel.

They made up the country’s top five markets in the first two months along with the U.K.

Vietnam’s total exports, however, dropped 30% year-on-year to $109 million in the period.

The U.S. and the E.U. each posted a 50% decline, which VASEP attributed to rising inflation and a change in consumers’ shopping habit.

The fact that Vietnam still has a yellow card given by the E.U. for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing also pose challenges to exports, VASEP added.

The association expects global demand for tuna to recover in the second half of this year.

Vietnam has nine species of tuna across its seas with an estimated reserve of 600,000 tons. The three biggest tuna fishing localities are Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa.

VnExpress