TUNA EXPORTS TO THE MIDDLE EAST INCREASED BY 40%

According to statistics of Vietnam Customs, the Middle East is the 3rd largest tuna import market of Vietnam after the US and EU. Vietnam's tuna export value to this market in the first 8 months of 2022 increased by 40% over the same period in 2021, reaching nearly 66 million USD, reaching the highest level in the past 5 years.
There are 15 countries in the Middle East that are currently importing Vietnamese tuna, of which Israel and Egypt are the 2 largest tuna import markets of Vietnam over the years. Notably, in the Middle East market, Israel and Saudi Arabia are the 4th and 5th largest single tuna import markets of Vietnam in this period. In 2022, after the double shock of the Covid-19 epidemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the inflation rate in Middle Eastern countries increased, especially Israel. In addition, rising transportation costs and tuna prices have reduced the demand for tuna imports to this market, especially in Israel. However, SAUDI exports are on a strong upward trend this year, with continuous growth at 3-4 figures over the same period.
Currently, Middle Eastern countries import mainly frozen tuna meat / loin products code HS0304, accounting for 50% of the total tuna export value to this market, followed by canned tuna accounting for 28% and other processed tuna code HS16 accounting for 22%.
In the Middle East market, Vietnam is the 3rd largest supplier of tuna after Thailand and Indonesia. In particular, Thailand is the largest supplier accounting for nearly 55%, followed by Indonesia 9%, Vietnam 7% and China 6%. It can be seen that Thailand's tuna supply is very far from Vietnam's supply, while China is very close.
Currently, due to the high price of tuna imported from Thailand, besides to reduce dependence on supply from the country, Middle Eastern importers are turning to increase tuna imports from other sources from Asia such as Indonesia,  Vietnam or China.
Source: Nguyen Ha - vasep.com.vn