There’s been a weak outlook for shrimp and tilapia prices this summer in China but strong demand for replacement species for fish at local market during the ongoing annual fishing ban. There was mixed news this month down south in the island province of Hainan, a key tilapia and vannamei shrimp cultivation region. A document from the Ocean and Fisheries bureau shows tilapia in the Haikou region of Hainan sized 350-500g sold wholesale for CNY 7 (USD 1.10, EUR 0.99) per kilo: that’s up 16.7 percent month on month but down 12.5 percent year on year.
Vannamei shrimp prices meanwhile are down both month on month and year on year: Haikou wholesale prices for a 40-head batch of live Vannamei averaged CNY 50 (USD 7.86, EUR 7.09)/500g, down 13.8 percent month on month and 10 percent year on year in mid-August. There was a similar trend in the port city of Sanya in Hainan where 40-head batches of live Vannamei sold for an average CNY 42 (USD 6.60, EUR 5.95)/500g, down 5 percent month on month and down 25 percent year on year according to data from the local office of the Ocean and Fisheries Bureau, a government agency. “Prices continued to fall during and after the first half of the year… farmers’ confidence is not high and investment and purchase of seedlings is down but we hope this means the fall in supply will send prices back up,” explains an official at the bureau.
A survey of 36 seafood markets nationally by the Chinese ministry of commerce shows that wholesale seafood prices were largely flat in August but prices for some key species benefitted from the annual summer fishing ban on domestic Chinese waters. At the Chengyang wholesale market in the key port city of Qingdao for instance supply of yellow croaker rose 30 percent while supply of saury rose a massive 93 percent month on month. Volume of clams, oysters and farmed shrimp also rose significantly according to traders surveyed for this article. “There is a big demand for fish that replace sea-caught species so if we get replacements at a low price we can sell them, we are always seeking replacements,” noted one Chengyang trader who has been sourcing farmed croaker from mariculture operations in the southern province of Fujian.
While demand for certain species is up price growth has fallen back: average prices for the month were up a mere 1.1 percent at the Chengyang market. Prices look set to fall in September with the end of the country’s fishing ban. But traders reported solid prices for shrimp due to a shortage of local supply in northern China. At the Chengyang market frozen tiger shrimp batches of six head were making between CNY 220 (USD 34.60, EUR 31.16) and 240 (USD 37.75, EUR 33.98) per kilo while smaller shrimp (up to ten head a batch) sold for up to CNY 150 (USD 23.59, EUR 21.24)/kg. Fresh Mantis is making between CNY 60-70 (USD 9.44-11.01, EUR 8.50-9.91)/kg while live Vannamei is making CNY 56 (USD 8.80, EUR 7.92)/500g for 35 head of shrimp.
Pricing on the domestic market remains largely flat but China needs to shift some of its seafood output to domestic markets due to weak demand in export markets. Worryingly, exports from the key export processing zone of Liaoning fell in the first seven months of 2015: the province shipped 409,000 metric tons (MT) worth USD 1.4 billion (EUR 1.3 billion) – a drop of 2.4 percent and 5.6 percent on the same period last year. Imports were also down 2.4 percent year on year to 556,000 MT, dropping 3.7 percent in value terms to USD 824 million (EUR 741.6 million).
