Processing ocean tuna for export at Ba Hai Joint Stock Company’s factory - photo: Vu Sinh/VNA

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Vietnam’s canned tuna exports experienced a high growth rate in the first four months of 2024. In April, canned tuna exports to the US increased by 127 percent, reaching more than US$10 million, taking the total to US$38 million in the first four months of this year, up 102 and 25 percent from the same period in 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Data of the US Department of Agriculture show that Vietnam has become the second biggest supplier of canned tuna for the US, after Thailand, accounting for 16 percent of this market’s total tuna import volume.

While the US is increasing its imports of canned tuna from Vietnam, its total tuna import volume in the first quarter of this year were slightly declining compared to the same period of 2023, reaching almost 33,000 tonnes.

The reason is that the US reduced imports from Thailand, the largest supplier of tuna to this market, accounting for 51 percent of all tuna imported by the US. In the first quarter of 2024, US imports of canned tuna from Thailand decreased by nine percent. The average price of Thai canned tuna exports to the US in Q1 was around US$4,422 per tonne.

Mexico’s canned tuna exports to the US were also experiencing a slight increase. The average export price of Mexican canned tuna products to this market in Q1 increased compared to the same period in 2023, reaching around US$4,735 per tonne.

Meanwhile, Indonesia and Ecuador are losing their market share in this US market segment. These two countries’ canned tuna exports to the US declined. Ecuadorian canned tuna exports decreased by 88 percent compared to the same period last year due to a sharp increase in their prices.

Chinese canned food manufacturers’ market share in the US continued to shrink due to high tariffs being imposed on them. The US economy is gradually recovering, and tuna prices in the global market are cooling down, so the country’s imports of canned tuna are expected to gradually recover. The US tends to reduce imports from Thailand to reduce its dependence on this supply source, and increase imports from other countries, including Vietnam.