Koreans spend nearly 6 million USD/month to eat Vietnamese tuna

(Dan Tri) - In June alone, the export value of Vietnamese tuna to South Korea reached nearly 6 million USD, 6 times higher than the same period in 2023.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) has just announced data on Vietnam's tuna export market to South Korea. Accordingly, VASEP said that in the past 3 consecutive months, Vietnam's tuna exports to South Korea have grown at a 3-digit rate and set a record high in June. In June alone, the export value to this market reached nearly 6 million USD, an increase of nearly 6 times compared to the same period in 2023. In the first 6 months, tuna exports to South Korea reached more than 14 million USD, an increase of 144% over the same period. South Korea has become one of the 10 single markets importing the most tuna from Vietnam.

(Source: VASEP).

According to statistics from Vietnam Customs, in the past 6 months, 15 enterprises have been exporting tuna to this market. VASEP representatives said that with a population of more than 51 million people in Korea, this country is a potential market for Vietnamese tuna exporters with a high growth trend since last year. Currently, Korea mainly imports processed and canned tuna from Vietnam, accounting for 99% of total export turnover. Of which, Korea mainly imports frozen steamed skipjack tuna. VASEP said that the change in seafood consumption trends in Korea following the trend of reducing consumer spending is an opportunity for Vietnamese seafood to boost exports of seafood products at suitable prices. Like Japan, exports to Korea have the advantage of a close geographical location, stable consumption demand and are the destination of many businesses in the coming time in the context of inflation causing a sharp decrease in consumption in Western markets. While the Red Sea tensions have caused shipping rates to the US and Europe to skyrocket, closer markets such as South Korea are also attracting the attention of many businesses. However, according to VASEP, businesses have pointed out that the domestic supply of raw skipjack tuna has decreased. The reason is that the current regulations on the minimum size of skipjack tuna allowed for exploitation in Decree 37 of 2024 on the Fisheries Law are "tying up" businesses. Therefore, businesses believe that Vietnam's tuna exports to South Korea in the second half of 2024 will hardly maintain the current growth rate.

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/nguoi-han-quoc-chi-gan-6-trieu-usdthang-de-an-ca-ngu-viet-nam-20240806155616141.htm