Saudi Arabia, the USA, and UAE are the top importing countries, and the whole product is preferred over the fillet.
•Whole
1. USA: Consumers prefer bigger sizes. The USA is the preferred destination country for exporters because of the price.
2. Saudi Arabia: Consumers prefer smaller fish of around 400-600 mg, and the majority of suppliers are immigrants from the Philippines and Indonesia. From October 2020 to January 2021 foreign imports were not approved but by January 2021, approval restarted.
•Fillet
1. USA and Canada buy Taiwanese milkfish fillets, but most of it usually goes to Chinese supermarkets. The total export amount is very small.