Explosive growth in China’s crayfish production may be leveling off.
Production of farmed crayfish is likely to stay at 1.9 million metric tons (MT) this year, flat compared with 2020 output, according to Yu Xia, formerly an executive at leading producer Deyan Aquatic Products & Food Co., which last year secured Best Aquaculture Practices certification.
Chinese crayfish farm output has doubled in the past decade as crayfish became wildly popular across the country. However, the industry now needs to improve its structure so that it’s producing larger-sized crayfish, Yu told SeafoodSource.
“Right now, 70 percent of the Chinese crayfish output is of smaller-sized crayfish,” Yu said. “Profitability for small-sized crayfish is low. China needs to increase the proportion of large-sized cray to 70 or 80 percent of overall production.”
Significantly for overseas buyers, China’s crayfish producers are moving decisively away from exports, particularly in the wake of the Sino-U.S. trade war, Yu said.
“The profit advantage of export is no longer obvious, and many companies that originally did export are more willing to turn to the domestic market,” Yu said.
Yu sees key challenges for the sector, including high processing costs and the dampening effect on prices of the seasonal production model.
“At present, the crayfish processing industry is still a labor-intensive industry, and the low meat-yield of crayfish also leads to high processing costs,” Yu said. “Also, the concentrated bringing of crayfish to market has led to a decline in revenue, which has spoiled the expectations of some producers.”
The industry will have to respond to more-discerning Chinese consumers who “are more concerned about the quality of crayfish, such as freshness and specifications, relative to the price,” according to Yu. While local governments have emphasized volume growth, the industry now needs to focus on branding and value addition, Yu said. Nevertheless, Yu is still confident in China’s crayfish sector, predicting continued strong demand and a “very large” market.
“The industry still has relatively large potential,” Yu said.
Photo courtesy of Min Jing/Shutterstock
