According to statistics from the International Trade Centre (ITC), Portugal is the 6th largest tuna importer in the EU. In 2023, the country's tuna imports from other countries increased by 9% compared to 2022, reaching nearly 241 million USD.

However, Portugal's tuna imports from Vietnam in 2023 decreased by 63%, reaching just over 2 million USD. In 2024, Vietnam's tuna exports to this market are showing signs of recovery. While Vietnamese tuna businesses failed to secure any export orders to Portugal in the first two months of 2023, they have already achieved over 148,000 USD in exports to this market in 2024, double the value compared to the same period in 2022. However, these figures indicate that Vietnam's tuna market share in Portugal remains low.

Vietnam mainly exports tuna meat/loins to the Portuguese market

Among the tuna suppliers to the Portuguese market in 2023, Vietnam is currently the 10th largest non-EU tuna supplier. Despite enjoying preferential tariffs under the European-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), Vietnamese tuna products still struggle to compete with similar products from China and Indonesia, which do not benefit from such preferential treatment.

Businesses claim that exports to the EU generally and to Portugal specifically are being hampered by the restricted domestic material supply and the difficulties presented by the IUU yellow card. Currently, there are very few Vietnamese tuna companies that have access to the Portuguese market. Among them, Dragon Waves is the leading supplier of Vietnamese tuna to this market.