9) Russia and China as competitors?
Chinese media (Xinhua news agency has one of the largest teams of Russian-language reporters outside of Russia) pointed out recently how Russia is building 10 new factory ships for processing as well as 18 new land-based processing plants. Russia wants to ship 225,000 tons per year in filleted whitefish by 2025, with Brazil a target market. Brazil, a developing country with a large population for low-priced protein, has long been a major buyer of Chinese tilapia. This obviously means a challenge for Chinese processors if Russia (China’s leading supplier of seafood, mostly for processing and export), is serious about going after the Brazilian market. But the Russian plan seems in line with its plan to become a key supplier of agricultural products to China – much of it from the country’s Far East region, which borders China. It will be interesting to see if Russia builds the infrastructure needed – China has been keen to do so but Moscow has long feared new rail and road routes will lead to China’s integration of Siberia into its own economy. So it appears Russia, which is also a supplier of premium product like king crab for China’s domestic market, appears to want to set the terms of engagement. China shipped 60,000 tons of seafood to Brazil in 2013, but this has since shrunk due to quality issues.
