Brazil presents a tremendous potential in aquaculture, with more than 5 million hectares of dammed freshwater and a long coastline, and production of a variety of products has been increasing steadily over recent years. Tilapia has especially shown remarkable growth, with the country increasing production by some 40 percent from 2008 to 2010.
However, notwithstanding this growth, the total 2010 tilapia production was 155,450 metric tons, which pales in comparison to the approximately 3 million metric tons of tilapia produced worldwide and China’s 50 percent market share.
In addition, the vast majority of Brazilian tilapia remains in the domestic market and evidence of this is the fact that, despite being one of the largest producers in the Americas, the country’s exports of fresh fillets to the U.S. market, for example, totaled just 196 tons in 2010, compared to more than 1,163 tons from Colombia, 3,160 from Costa Rica, 3,518 tons from Honduras and 4,137 tons from Ecuador.
One reason for this, aside from Brazil’s huge domestic consumer market, is the strength of the local currency, the Real, which makes it more attractive to sell locally. In fact, local processors have identified this as a weakness, noting that while Brazilian tilapia fillets cost around USD 6.80 per kilogram f.o.b., imported Chinese tilapia fillet costs around USD 3.90 per kilogram CIF (cost, insurance, freight) in the United States. Producers also warn against imports into Brazil of mislabeled fish products and other cheaper species like Alaska pollock, which costs just USD 2.58 per kilogram CIF in Brazil.
Nevertheless, the strength of the domestic market and the strong demand internationally has attracted international firms like Pescanova and Nissui of Japan to open operations in Brazil, targeting not just their markets of origin but also the domestic Brazilian market. In the case of Nissui, its Netuno operations in Brazil expect to increase production from an estimated 9,000 tons in 2011 to 40,000 tons by 2015 and have announced their intention to target the U.S. market.
