China’s seafood imports may have dropped by nearly 28 percent in the first quarter of 2020, but they will recover by the end of the year, according to veteran importer and marketing consultant Fan Xubing, head of Beijing-based consultancy Seabridge.
The import figures have been dragged down by a fall in inbound shipments of seafood destined for foodservice, Fan told SeafoodSource.
“Shipments of live, fresh seafood have suffered most in the China market,” he said. “Another reason is the decreased number of passenger planes flying in and out of China.”
Some frozen seafood imports continue to increase, Fan said.
“But all seafood import prices are dropping, [it’s] just a matter of how many percentage points. Chinese seafood consumption is recovering quicker than all other countries. But foodservice needs more months [to recover],” Fan said.
Fan, whose clients include the Canadian Association of Prawn Producers, pointed to imports of Canadian cold-water shrimp as revealing of how the market in China is currently functioning. Imports of the product held steady in January and February compared to the same period in 2019. And at 7,335 metric tons in March 2020, China’s imports of Canadian cold-water shrimp are up significantly from the 2,745 MT recorded in March 2019.
“We have re-started the retail promotion for Canadian cold-water shrimp from April. The sales during promotion have been recovered to the pre-virus level, some stores even higher than pre-virus level,” he said. “We will speed up the promotion because we think this is a good opportunity.”
In general, Fan said the best-placed exporters are countries which have the capacity to control the coronavirus.
“Frozen seafood suffered less than fresh and live seafood due to the corona virus lockdown,” Fan said. “Seafood from developing countries like Ecuador and India [has] suffered more than developed countries like Canada and Norway. The big problem for Ecuador and India is mainly because of [their] capacity to control the virus outbreak.”
Fan predicted that by the end of the year, the country’s annual seafood import total will be up.
“I think in 2020, China seafood imports will further increase, even though in 2018 and 2019 they increased a lot,” he said. “China’s position for seafood and meat importation will be further strengthened in coming years.”
Photo courtesy of Endless Luck/Shutterstock
