Domestic demand in China is pushing the price of its squid exports higher, according to Vigo, Spain-based seafood trading firm Interatlantic.
With the recent closing of the Argentinean squid [illex argentinus] season, it looks increasingly likely China’s market will absorb most of the product its distant-water fleet caught in that fishery, Interatlantic said in a market update circular. That will mean the final product China offers to Europe will “rise drastically” in price, the company said.
“The illex argentinus season closes this year, having completely exhausted the stock at source,” it said. “At the end of the squid season, 126,000 tonnes is the figure calculated in Argentina; 300,000 tonnes on mile 201 [outside of Argentina’s exclusive economic zone] and 172,000 tonnes in the Falklands.”
In an apparent effort to curb the upward price pressure, the European Union has authorized the annual entry of 75,000 tons of Patagonian squid (loligo gahi) tariff-free, with retroactive effect from 1 January, 2021 through 2023, Interatlantic said.
“This quota … Will facilitate the entry into the E.U. of certain consignments of fishery products from third-countries without the need to pay tariffs,” it said.
Interatlantic also noted a move by China to seasonally restrict its squid-jigger fishing fleet from catching illex and loligo in reproducing, spawning, and nursery areas in the southwest Atlantic and central Pacific. China’s squid-fishing moratorium in the Atlantic – lasting from 1 July to 30 September – covers the area of the ocean 32 degrees and 44 degrees south and 48 to 60 degrees west, while its East Pacific area moratorium will be in place from 1 September to 30 November. The ban will affect 70 Chinese distant-water fishing firms and 600 vessels, according to China’s Agriculture Ministry. But the move has been criticized by Latin American squid producers and conservationists for being merely timed to coincide with the typical end of the fishing season.
Founded in 1994, Interatlantic has an office in Dalian, China, and is involved in the purchase of squid for its international customer base. China’s squid fleet accounts for 70 percent of the global catch, according to Interatlantic.
Addressing the rising cost of seafood on the global market, it noted freight rates have risen over 300 percent compared to March 2020 due to COVID-related supply disruptions, such as a shortage of containers to transport goods and congestion in key ports like China’s Yantian, as well as COVID-related shutdowns of factories in several Asian countries. Interatlantic points to particular pain for India’s shrimp exporters, which have collectively had more than 1,000 of their containers stranded in Chinese ports since June due to import inspection complications.
“Chinese authorities have not clarified whether they can be taken back to India,” it said.
Photo courtesy of Afza Seriza/Shutterstock
