Average prices for seafood in China were up 31 percent in February compared to the same month three years ago.
Research by the China Merchants Research Institute shows an overall average price of CNY 21.18 (USD 3.14, EUR 2.80) per kilogram, down 9.5 percent year-on-year in February, though the Chinese New Year festival fell earlier this year, frontloading demand into early January.
The data suggests that although prices have been largely stable over the past year, that stability has come from a larger amount of imports. There remains a gradual trend towards price increases as local aquaculture production is squeezed by enhanced environmental protection in China, even as demand for seafood continues to rise. This points to a long-term horizon of increased imports into the future.
Imports in January 2019 rose 56 percent in value and 31.2 percent in volume, to 400,000 metric tons worth CNY 1.63 billion (USD 242.4 million, EUR 215.2 million) compared to the same month in 2018.
Prices for freshwater seafood averaged CNY 14.38 (USD 2.14, EUR 1.90) per kilogram in February down 7.2 percent year-on-year, according to the China Merchants Research data. But prices for seawater species rose 5.8 percent year-on-year to CNY 42.58 (USD 6.33, EUR 5.62) per kilogram.
