The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) forecast tuna export orders will increase sharply in the last months of the year due to decreasing inventories in major export markets and the recently signed Vietnam-Israel Free Trade Agreement.

VASEP said domestic tuna exporters could expect positive prospects in the second half of this year.

The association said the stockpiled quantity of tuna in the US - one of the main markets of Vietnam has begun to decrease and importers were considering speeding up imports.

By the end of the year, major markets such as the US will have many festivals, so consumer demand will increase. Meanwhile, preferential tariffs are an advantage that has pushed EU importers to seek orders from Vietnam.

Over the past seven months of this year, Vietnam’s tuna exports reached nearly 445.6 million USD, down 31% year-on-year, VASEP said.

While exports of high-value fresh, frozen and dried tuna products decreased 46%, shipments of processed and canned tuna goods saw a modest rise of 4% to over 204 million USD, it said.

Besides, exports to the EU, Mexico, Israel and Thailand had recorded high growth over the same period of 2022.

The EU market showed signs of recovery, with a growth rate of 28% in June and July, earning Vietnam a turnover of 12 million USD per month. Notably, in the bloc, exports to the Netherlands also continuously grew remarkably while that to Germany maintained an increase of 30% in June and July.

At the same time, Vietnamese tuna exports to Mexico and Chile also recorded significant hikes of 100% and 90%, respectively. Meanwhile, tuna shipments to Thailand also soared 65% in the last two months.

According to Nguyen Ha, tuna market expert of VASEP, in the context that exports to the main traditional markets had all declined, Israel had emerged as a potential market.

In the first half of this year, Vietnamese tuna exports to Israel hit nearly 25 million USD, up 92% over the same period last year.

Frozen tuna meat and fillets still accounted for the highest proportion of 47%. The export value of this product group saw a yearly hike of 29%. Meanwhile, the export turnover of canned tuna increased 375% and other processed tuna products surged 83%.

Despite being a small country, with no natural resources and limited domestic labour resources, Israel’s consumer demand was quite large and solvency was high, so there remained ample room for Vietnam’s tuna exports to the market, Ha said.

Especially, the Vietnam-Israel FTA (VIFTA), signed on July 25, would open up opportunities for Vietnam’s seafood exports, including tuna, to access the Israeli market and lucrative Middle East region, Ha said.

To penetrate the Israeli market, VASEP Secretary General Truong Dinh Hoe suggested that tuna exporters ensure product quality, carefully study market information, promote credibility and be responsible.

He vowed that VASEP would accompany, research carefully and disseminate market information to businesses.

To facilitate tuna exports, businesses petitioned the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to grant more quotas for imported raw tuna as domestic tuna raw material could meet only 25% of demand for processing and export, the Binh Dinh Fishery JSC Co suggested.

VNA