Duringthe first two months of this year, Vietnam earned 63.2 million USD inthe total export value of tuna, 13.5 percent lower than the same periodlast year, the general department said.
However, the percentageof processed tuna products for exports rose from 38 percent to 50percent of the total export value of tuna.
Exports of most tunaproducts were cut by 46 percent, including live, fresh, frozen and driedtuna products. Canned tuna exports fell by 3 percent and tuna loinsslipped by 13 percent.
Meanwhile, exports of other processed tunaproducts surged strongly by 36 percent, the Vietnam Association ofSeafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said.
The United States,European Union (EU), Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN),Japan, Israel, Libya, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan (China) were thetop eight importing markets, accounting for 81 percent of totalVietnamese tuna exports.
Among these, ASEAN was the only marketthat had boosted tuna imports from Vietnam by 20.7 percent to 6.2million USD for the first two months of this year, compared with thesame period last year.
The export value of Vietnamese tuna fellby 13.8 percent to 21.5 million USD in the United States and 21 percentto 17 million USD in the EU from a year ago.
The reduction inVietnam's tuna exports was due to lower tuna prices, the depreciation ofthe Euro and lower market demand from traditional markets, the generaldepartment said.
Tuna prices dropped from a high of 2,400 USD pertonne in October 2012 to $1,000 at present in Thailand, one of thelargest tuna markets in the world.
The depreciation of the Euroat present has strongly impacted production costs and competitiveness oftuna processors and exporters in Asia, such as the Philippines,Thailand and Vietnam.-VNA