According to the latest annual report from Brazilian fish-farming association Peixe BR on Brazil’s fish output, the South American country produced 887,029 metric tons (MT) of farmed fish in 2023, marking a 3.1 percent jump from 2022 and surging 53.2 percent from the 578,800 MT produced 10 years ago.
Farmed tilapia took up 65.3 percent of total production, reaching 579,080 MT, followed by native species such as tambaqui and pirarucu coming in at 263,479 MT and comprising 29.7 percent of the total. Other fish including carp, trout, and pangasius came in at 44,470 MT, or 5 percent of the total.
Production of tilapia has jumped 103 percent over the past decade, Peixe BR said, turning the country into a major global tilapia-producing player over the time frame.
“It was the fastest-growing animal protein in the country during this period. With the authorization for production in more states, tilapia has the ideal environment in Brazil to achieve higher productivity,” Peixe BR Executive President Francisco Medeiros said.
Even so, tilapia production growth was “modest” in 2023 when compared to the previous nine years, he said, attributing the slowdown mostly to “sanitary issues.”
A disease outbreak last year led to reduced fry production and higher mortality rates in the sector, but the executive said the industry responded effectively, implementing more stringent biosafety measures and enhanced vaccination programs in order to stabilize fry supply by Q4 2023.
Regarding the production of native fish, Peixe BR said overall production slipped 1.3 percent when compared to 2022. The association called for greater state support of production in this area and for the definition and implementation of a business model that can attract private-sector investment.
Other developments toward the end of 2023 that may be worrisome for the industry include the arrival of a container of tilapia fillets from Vietnam that “made December a month filled with concerns.”
At the beginning of 2024, the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture moved to suspend all tilapia imports from Vietnam stemming from the December container incident, pending a review of health protocols and concern over introduction of the TiLV virus into its domestic aquaculture industry. Local actors said the move was a precautionary measure to guarantee quality, but outsiders saw the move as protectionist to favor local industry.
Unlike most other Latin American countries, which look to drive their economies by expanding exports, Brazilian producers mostly look to domestic demand to fuel growth, and according to figures from Peixe BR, domestic consumption of tilapia has grown.
In 2014, Brazilians consumed an average of 1.47 kilograms of tilapia per person per year. In 2023, per-capita consumption reached 2.84 kilograms.
Peixe BR said that demand was strong, but upside potential is even more significant considering the global average per-capita consumption of fish is 20 kilograms per year, leaving much more room for Brazilian demand to grow.
The uptick in demand has been reflected in local pricing; the average price for tilapia in Brazil was BRL 7.29 (USD 1.32, EUR 1.19) per kilogram in 2021 but increased 33.5 percent to BRL 9.73 (USD 1.77, EUR 1.58) per kilogram in 2023. Over the same period, the average price of Brazil’s exported whole tilapia increased 7.3 percent – from USD 2.18 (EUR 1.96) per kilogram to USD 2.34 (EUR 2.11) per kilogram.
Though the country is focusing on domestic demand for its products, Brazilian fish farmers still exported, albeit at lower volumes.
Some 6,815 MT of farmed fish were sent abroad in 2023, down 20 percent when compared to the previous year, Peixe BR said, citing information from the Ministry of Economy. At the same time, the value of those exports actually increased by 4 percent to USD 24.7 million (EUR 22.1 million), which Peixe BR credited to more sales of higher value-added items, such as fresh fillets, over lower-value items, such as frozen whole fish. In 2023, the average price of Brazilian farmed fish was USD 4.23 (EUR 3.78) per kilogram, rising 21.2 percent from 2022 export prices of USD 3.49 (EUR 3.12) per kilogram.
The lion’s share of exports went to the U.S., which bought USD 21.8 million (EUR 19.5 million) worth of products, representing 88 percent of Brazilian exports. China purchased USD 674,146 (EUR 602,626) of fish, or 2.7 percent of the total; followed by Japan at USD 550,294 (EUR 491,908), or 2.2 percent of the total; Taiwan at USD 334,835 (EUR 299,309), or 1.3 percent of the total; and Colombia at USD 236,431 (EUR 211,340), or 0.9 percent of the pie.
In 2023, Paraná was by far Brazil’s largest fish-farming state, contributing 213,300 MT of production totals, followed by the state of Sao Paulo with 82,400 MT and Minas Gerais at 61,600 MT.
In terms of world production of tilapia in 2023, Brazil came in fourth place at 579,080 MT. For the year, China led the pack at 2.05 million MT, followed by Indonesia at 1.45 million MT and Egypt at 1.1 million MT.
