Maldives Customs statistics reveal that canned tuna was the highest exported commodity from the Maldives to foreign countries in December last year.
According to the import-export statistics published by Customs for December, a total of MVR 116 million worth of goods were exported, including raw fish, fish products, and other commodities. The highest volume of exports consisted of canned skipjack tuna. Customs data shows that MVR 48 million worth of canned tuna was exported in December. In November of last year, MVR 41 million worth of canned tuna was exported. Therefore, comparing the two months, this is an increase of MVR 7 million.
Looking at the details of raw fish exports, MVR 20 million worth of frozen skipjack tuna and MVR 19 million worth of yellowfin tuna were exported last December. Additionally, a total of MVR 10 million worth of raw yellowfin tuna, including chilled fresh fish chunks and loins, was exported. Overall, MVR 49 million worth of raw fish was exported in December.
The government is currently aiming to increase the volume of value-added fish exports instead of directly exporting raw fish. This is intended to increase the profits generated from fish exports by creating opportunities to sell prepared and value-added products at higher prices in foreign markets. To facilitate this, the government is undertaking numerous projects to increase fish storage and processing capacity.
