The U.K. seafood industry is stepping up efforts to find replacement markets for Russia, with seafood companies hopeful that Asia will take up the slack. That’s according to Malcolm Lange, head of international markets research at Sea Fish Industry Authority (Seafish), the industry body backed by the British government.
“It will take a year to see the real effect of the Russian ban,” said Lange, who was speaking at Seafood Expo Asia that took place from 2 to 4 September in Hong Kong where he was assessing demand for extra volumes of fish as well as crustaceans in the Far East. British exporters of brown crab have enjoyed bumper demand recently thanks to this week’s traditional Mid-Autumn festival, a key consumption period for crab in greater China. Cooked, vac-packed brown crab from the U.K. was being offered this week for about RMB 450 (USD 73.35, EUR 56.73) on popular Chinese online commerce sites like Taobao and Yihaodian.
“British crab and langoustines are seen as premium but also competitively priced” in the Chinese market, said Malcolm Lange. He’s hoping that buyers can also be found for mackerel and herring from the U.K., which traditionally enjoyed solid demand in Russia.
There are signs that China is importing higher value seafood for domestic consumption. While volume of imports for domestic consumption slipped 6 percent in the first half of this year to 392,000 metric tons (MT) the value of imports jumped 18 percent on the same period last year and reached almost USD 1.5 billion (EUR 1.2 billion) over the six months. Crustaceans such as shrimp and crabs are key premium consumption items at restaurants here but have also become popular gift items thanks to online shopping sites.
Even as its own shippers entice Chinese buyers of premium product, Britain’s demand for lower-priced seafood from Asia meanwhile will continue to rise, predicts Lange, thanks to a growing population and popularity of ethnic restaurants and retail offerings. Notably, 80 percent of the fish and shellfish processed and consumed in the U.K. are imported while almost 70 percent of the domestic catch is exported. The key growth is in warm water species though cod remains the overwhelming favorite with consumers, said Lange. Attempts to replace some of the cod volume with imported Vietnamese pangasius failed after an initial surge in demand. “The taste just didn’t match cod,” said Lange.
