Ireland’s seafood exports to Asia and the European Union declined in 2020, while shipments to Africa soared, largely due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shipments to Asia were worth EUR 29 million (USD 35 million) in 2020 – a 58 percent decline on the previous year largely due to freight disruptions caused by COVID-19. Primary seafood exports to the European Union’s 27 member-states – traditionally Ireland’s key market – were worth EUR 245 million (USD 296 million), a 22 percent decline year-on-year.
“This can be ascribed to a great degree to the closure of the foodservice channel for large parts of 2020,” a Bord Bia spokesperson – the Irish state’s food marketing board – told SeafoodSource.
Exports to Africa were worth EUR 111 million (USD 134 million), up 113 percent on the 2019 total. That total, the spokesperson said, also has roots in the pandemic.
“This is a COVID-related story interacting with a Brexit-related disruption. Irish seafood exports to Africa are largely pelagic fish. The quota for these fish was caught early because of uncertainty about Brexit deal,” the spokesperson said. “The early caught quota struggled to get shipping to Asia because of the early COVID disruption to shipping. Shipping to Nigeria, Cameroon, and Egypt was available, so this catch went to those markets instead.”
Irish shellfish exports fell 26 percent to EUR 129 million (USD 156 million). Part of that can be tied to a 40 percent drop in exports to Asia as demand for oysters and other premium products dropped in greater China and Singapore. Overall, oyster shipments totaled 70 percent of the corresponding 2019 figures in value terms.
There was also disappointment for exporters of crab, a valuable category for Irish exporters.
“The demand for live crab in China was strong, but changes in the procedure for securing health cert[ifications] has made it difficult for the sector to avail of this opportunity and logistics also presented a barrier,” Bord Bia explained a summary of the year’s export totals.
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