Chinese seafood processor and trader Qingdao Sanmu Aquatic Products Co. saw a slide in revenues in the first half of the year, cushioned by a collapse in the price for chum salmon inputs.
Sanmu is listed on the enterprise board for small- and medium-sized firms at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and services a customer base in North America and Europe, but has recently also been looking to expand its sales in China.
In the first six months of 2020, the company’s revenues totaled CNY 63 million (USD 9.5, EUR 8.2 million), a drop of 31.7 percent year-on-year. The company’s costs, at CNY 53.6 million (USD 8 million, EUR 6.9 million) were down 34.1 percent year-on-year – largely because chum salmon prices have dropped significantly, according to the company’s results sheet.
Softer pricing for Pacific chum salmon also played a factor in Sanmu’s results last year. The firm reported revenues of CNY 176.9 million (USD 26.53 million, EUR 22.9 million) in 2019, down 30 percent year-on-year. Profits attributable to shareholders rose eight percent to CNY 11 million (USD 1.7 million, EUR 1.4 million), up by eight percent year-on-year – thanks to two subsidy payments worth CNY 1.5 million (USD 220,000, EUR 190,000) from the Chengyang district of Qingdao city government to help Sanmu with its stock market listing and with “standardization” of company procedures.
Judging by the experience of the Shanghai offices of German trade finance firm Tradewind, which had seen growth in demand for trade finance from Chinese seafood importers in 2018 and 2019, Demand for seafood imports has weakened due to the COVID-19 virus.
“Our office reports that there has been a decrease in consumer demand for imported seafood since the coronavirus outbreak,” company spokesperson Catherine Alvino told SeafoodSource. “While we had some activity with seafood importers last year, we have had less interactions with this sector in 2020.”
