In 2018, the US increased the
import of fresh, frozen and dried tuna products from Vietnam. Frozen
fillets/loin tuna were the main export products from Vietnam to the US
in 2018, accounting for 63%. During this period, the export of canned
tuna to the US continued to decline. Meanwhile, exporting other
processed tuna products went up.
Imported canned tuna to the U.S is
increasing. Including canned tuna from the three largest suppliers,
Thailand, Ecuador and China, Vietnam is currently the 4th largest canned tuna supplier to the US market, out of 37 countries exporting this product line.
The trend of products made from
tuna to the US continues to increase. China supplied the largest share
of this product line to the US market. According to statistics from the
US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the average
FOB price of this product imported to the US increased by 11% over the
same period last year, but the products of tuna family still have a
lower price than skipjack.
Import tax has increased from 4%
to 10% for products imported from China. Meanwhile, Import taxes from
other countries remain at 4% lower than 12.5% of traditional skipjack
tuna, yellowfin tuna, or longfin tuna. This is creating an unfair
competition for traditional canned tuna products.
In
the market segment of frozen fillet/loin tuna, export from Vietnam
continued to increase. Currently, Indonesia and Vietnam continue to be
the largest tuna suppliers to the US market, with the proportion of 38%
and 36% respectively. In the first 10 months of 2018, the average price
of frozen tuna fillet/loin in the US ranged from US$ 11-12/kg, the price
of imports from Indonesia also fluctuated in this range. Meanwhile,
Vietnam's price of frozen filet/loin tuna ranged from US$ 9.96 to US$ 11
/kg.
VIFEP(Vasep)