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Tuna exports hit $80m in Q1
Tuna exports have grown strongly in the first quarter of the year, reaching US$80 million, an increase of 170 per cent over the same period last year.
Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers administration chief Nguyen Minh Tam quoted statistics as showing tuna exports to the US market had reached its highest level at 4,000 tonnes, worth $20 million, 500 per cent higher than the same period last year in both quantity and value.
Last year, the US imported 19,000 tonnes of tuna worth $67 million from Viet Nam.
Tam said exports to Japan, Taiwan and Canada markets had increased at least 100 per cent in quantity and value.
Exporters were now focusing on emerging markets, including the Bahamas and Libya, which had considerable exports potential in comparison with traditional ones of Canada and Israel.
However, the association said export prices had not been up to expectation.
Fishermen in the provinces of Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa had yielded a bumper crop since the beginning of the year, Tam said, However, most fishermen had not paid attention to the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing rule set by the European Commission which required certificates of origin on all seafood consignments.
This had caused difficulties in the seafood sector, Tam said..
"The export turnover to the EU in February, therefore, was at $58.8 million, a decrease of 8.7 per cent over the same period last year."
On the bright side, total export turnover to the EU in the first two months of this year rose 4.5 per cent due to high export volumes in January.
In the first two month of the year, the EU imported 44,400 tonnes of seafood products from Viet Nam worth $128.3 million.
The association forecast tuna productivity would soon reduce, driving prices higher.
vietnamnews
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