Cheap Chinese processed product continues to flow into Southeast Asia, though Thailand is shunning Chinese product, according to data for 2017 published by the China's Agriculture Ministry and the National Customs Bureau.
Japan was the top buyer of Chinese seafood exports in 2017, buying 627,000 metric tons (MT), up 2.53 percent over 2016. Chinese exports to Japan were worth USD 3.84 billion (EUR 3.13 billion), up 3.8 percent.
In second place, the United States bought 554,300 MT, up 1.72 percent on 2016. In total, the U.S. bought USD 3.22 billion (EUR 2.63 billion) worth of seafood from China, up 5.8 percent from 2016.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was a bigger buyer in volume terms than the U.S., buying 669,300 MT, up 6.56 year-on-year. But despite the large volume, its total value decreased to USD 2.37 billion (EUR 1.94 billion), down 2.7 percent from 2016. That suggests Southeast Asian buyers continue to opt for lower-value, processed product.
China’s exports to theASEAN bloc were hit by a sharp reduction in shipments to Thailand. Thailand took 178,800 MT worth of Chinese seafood in 2017, down 29.1 percent year-on-year. In value terms, shipments to Thailand were down 24.8 percent to USD 840 million (EUR 687 million).
The falloff in Chinese trade with Thailand was offset by strong growth in exports to Indonesia, the biggest economy in the ASEAN bloc. Shipments to Indonesia, at 106,300 MT, were up 92.5 percent, but the bulk of the seafood shipped to Indonesia appears to be low in value, as the total value of USD 236 million (EUR 193 million) grew by 81.9 percent, but still represented barely a quarter of the value of shipments to Thailand, where canners continue to buy tuna from Chinese fishing companies.
While Indonesia is becoming a bigger buyer of Chinese seafood, South Korea appears to have had enough. It bought 479,200 MT from China in 2017 worth USD 1.58 billion (EUR 1.29 billion), representing a tonnage drop of 9.6 percent and a drop of 2.3 percent in terms of value. Relations between China and South Korea have been rocky in the past year due to disputes over a joint Korean-U.S. missile defense system, and the two Asian nations increasingly view each other as economic competitors as China moves up the manufacturing value chain and into industries once dominated by South Korea.
Chinese shipments to the European Union remain considerable, though growth is flat; China shipped 551,100 MT of seafood to the E.U. last year, down by 0.97 percent on the previous year. However, the value of the shipments increased by 2.3 percent increase to USD 2.37 billion (EUR 1.94 billion).
Chinese shipments to Taiwan were down 0.85 percent to 138,000 MT, worth USD 1.80 billion (EUR 1.47 billion), up 7.9 percent.
Top suppliers to China
High-value U.S. seafood shipments to China are starting to overtake much bulkier shipments from Russia in value terms, while Norway continues to catch up on salmon competitor Chile.
Russia remains China’s top supplier of seafood, shipping 1.07 million MT, up 11.1 percent and worth USD 1.55 billion (EUR 1.27 billion), an increase of 2.78 percent. This accounts for 13.6 percent of China's overall supply in value terms.
However, the United States, in second place, is a higher-value supplier: it shipped USD 1.5 billion (EUR 1.23 billion) worth of seafood to China in 2017, a rise of 21.28 percent year-on-year. Volume was also up to 532,900 MT, an increase of 8.37 percent. This suggests the increasing importance of high-value species, like lobster and crab, is starting to outweigh the bulkier shipments of whitefish from Russia (which has also become a shipper of higher value items like crab).
The rise of imported fishmeal has made Peru China’s third-largest supplier in 2017 in volume terms. It sold 985,900 MT of seafood to China, up 96.5 percent worth USD 1.49 billion (EUR 1.22 billion), up 78.3 percent.
The growing importance of Vietnam as both a supplier of shrimp and pangasius as well as a transhipment hub is borne out in the growth of shipments from ASEAN into China last year. ASEAN nations sold 648,000 MT (up 3.69 percent) to China, worth USD 1.42 billion (EUR 1.16 billion), up 13.7 percent.
Shipments out of Vietnam rose 20.8 percent in volume to 232,600 MT and jumped 30.1 percent in value to USD 398 million (EUR 318 million).
Indonesia’s role as a supplier of shrimp and fish makes it China's biggest supplier in the ASEAN bloc, which has a free trade agreement with China. Shipments totaled 279,400 tons, up 3.59 percent and were worth USD 490 million (EUR 401 million), up 11.2 percent, much slower growth than the soaring growth in Chinese exports of seafood to Indonesia.
Outside of Asia, Canada was double-digit growth in its seafood shipments to China. Its exports hit 114,800 MT, up 15.3 percent; worth USD 754 million (617 million), up 22.5 percent in value.
Despite its much-vaunted rebooting of relations with China in late 2016, Norway is behind Chile in total volume and value of seafood exports to China. Chile shipped 184,600 MT, up 12.75 percent; worth USD 598 million (EUR 489 million), up 16.9 percent. Norway saw its volume grow 22.3 percent to 198,700 MT, while the value of its exports to China rose 30.2 percent to USD 474 million (EUR 388 million).
Another supplier of salmon and other species, New Zealand saw its shipments drop by 10.8 percent in volume to 76,000 MT, while value was down 6.09 percent to USD 422 million (EUR 345 million).
Photo courtesy of China Aquaculture Network
