Russia replaced as China's top seafood supplier
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gained a bigger share in the Chinese seafood market thanks to an increase in imports of pangasius and shrimps, with pangasius now turning into a key import item for the Chinese Foodservice industry.
The ASEAN bloc replaced Russia as a top seafood supplier in the Chinese market, Southeast Asian nations accounting for 14.5% of China’s imports, with volume rising 31.3% to 453,700 MT, with a value of $ 1.116 billion (€ 978 million) – up 59.2%.
Meanwhile, Russia accounted for 13.86% of China’s imports in the first half of the year, with 640,900 metric tons (MT) worth $ 1.11 billion (€ 973 million), down 4.8% and up 24.71%, respectively, according to Seafood Source magazine.
During the first six months of the year, the US has managed to increase the seafood shipments to China by 2.4% compared to the first half of 2017, reaching a total of 254,000 MT, and by 30.2% in value to $852 million (€ 746.9 million).
The increased demand for seafood imports is going to be present in China in the following months as the government is tightening the environmental regulations and fishing moratoriums. China’s overall export and import figure for the first half of 2018, at 5.19 million MT, was down by 1.6% but at $ 20.3 billion (€ 17.8 billion), the value of the trade was up by 15%, suggesting seafood exports and imports are becoming more expensive as supply tightens and China’s demand grows.
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