Mark Godfrey

China’s growth in shipments of tilapia volumes went flat in 2014. But the fastest-growing export category in China’s seafood exports was shellfish at 272,900 million metric tons (MT) worth USD 1.70 billion (EUR 1.5 billion), up 16.5 percent and 26.1 percent, respectively, year-on-year. That’s according to data collected from China’s Customs authorities by SeafoodSource and checked against figures from the agriculture and commerce

A document released to media by China’s Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) offers insight into the quarantine process for seafood at Chinese ports. The document is a list of seafood imports in December that were either returned to the original exporter or destroyed.

There is no indication of blame of any party but the document appears to have been released to highlight the vigilance of the AQSIQ on

Norway and the United States both increased their seafood imports into China last year while Russia and Chile saw their shipments to Chinese ports fall significantly. Documents from China’s customs agency and agricultural ministry show Norway’s imports into China last year grew 24.7 percent in value terms to USD 540 million (EUR 476 million) and 17.4 percent in volume terms to 213,000 metric tons (MT). Meanwhile, Russian imports fell 5.5

China’s seafood processing sector for export has slumped while shrimp imports are rapidly outpacing exports: These are some of the findings from the annual round up of the seafood sector by the agricultural ministry in Beijing.

China’s 2014 shrimp exports fell 16 percent while imports increased 11.8 percent year-on-year. That’s according to data for last year just released by the Chinese agriculture ministry, which blames the fall in

Baiyang Aquatic Group, China’s leading processor and exporter of tilapia has reported total revenue for 2014 of CNY 1.78 billion (EUR 254 million; USD 289 million), a year-on-year increase of 31.95 percent. Net profit attributable to shareholders of CNY 57.69 million (EUR 8.07 million; USD 9.23 million) was up a mere 1.45 percent.

The firm has blamed two factors for failing to hit its net profit targets and revenue growth: Multiple new

A new free trade milestone for Southeast Asia could have a big impact on aquaculture output and in the region, making for more efficient flow of feed and investment into aquaculture. An EU-style single market coming into force this year for members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) makes for “an exciting and interesting time” in the region, says Lukas Manomaitis, a Bangkok-based seafood consultant. He foresees the ASEAN

China’s leading seafood region is setting a blueprint to ramp up production by 2020 by drastically expanding the region’s construction of sea-borne aquaculture while also building artificial reefs. China has struggled to increase output from ocean aquaculture at the same pace freshwater aquaculture, but pressure has increased as land and cheap labor become scarce. 

A blueprint titled Sea Granary 2020, published by the Ocean and Marine

Prices for fish and for shellfish have risen by 5 to 10 percent but prices for shrimp are up by as much as 50 percent in the past week as Chinese New Year approaches, according to seafood traders in several Chinese cities. Consumption of shrimp tends to peak during Chinese New Year as families spend on what’s seen as a premium festival treat, while frozen imported shrimp have become a favorite gift-box item.

With the festival this year

One of China’s top three tilapia-producing regions has reported solid export numbers for 2014 and plans to improve the scale and quality of local tilapia production. Guangxi province’s overall exports of seafood totaled 114,000 metric tons (MT) in 2014, up 23.2 percent year on year. In value terms exports were worth USD 640 million (EUR 557 million), up 50.5 percent on the previous year.

Exports of tilapia totaled 90,000 MT, accounting for

Prices appear to have grown much faster than volume in China’s 2014 seafood production. China’s output of seafood totaled 53.7 million metric tons (MT) in the first 11 months of last year — up 2.4 percent year-on-year. Output from aquaculture outpaced the overall growth rate: up 4.4 percent to 40.06 million MT, according to the agricultural ministry in Beijing, which has released the data at its traditional annual teleconference on the