STAG News Bites
The latest seafood news from China and other key global markets for Australian Exporters.
October 19, 2022
STAG News Bites: 🤝 Minister talks China access; 🦞 Canada lobster price down; 📊 EU seafood imports up
Some of these articles are in foreign languages and can be automatically translated on Google Chrome.
Note: These articles are a round-up of news media in key seafood markets. The information is provided as part of our market intelligence service to Australian seafood exporters. The views expressed in the media articles are not those of the STAG and are in no way endorsed by us.
Image: ABC News
🤝 Trade Minister on China access
According to the ABC website, ‘there are signs that China could be ready to discuss lifting the trade bans that pushed Australian lobster fishers close to breaking point.’
ABC reports Trade Minister Don Farrell’s comments that China’s ambassador has indicated his government is "prepared to have these discussions". Read the story here.
The Minister was in Japan and Korea to promote Australian exports, including rock lobster, discussing lobster trade at some length on ABC Country Hour. The full transcript is available here.
Image: Canadian Press
🦞 Canada: Lobster prices falling
CBC News reports that Canadian lobster and snow crab prices are under pressure as consumers facing higher costs of living are reluctant to pay: ‘The price of snow crab has plummeted in 2022 between 60 and 65 percent while lobster prices have fallen about 35 percent.’ Read more here.
Vietnamese seafood exporters are also feeling the impact of inflation in key markets. Retail News Asia reports, ‘Seafood exports fell to a seven-month low of $850 million in September, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP). This is because of declining consumption in the U.S., EU, China and the U.K., which have been recorded since July.’ Read the story here.
Image: Rabobank
🌐 Global Trade: Rabobank seafood report, China imports up
Rabobank has published a new report on global seafood trade. Analysts say ‘We expect the strong rebound in the value of global seafood trade flows to continue through 2022 as the world emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic. Major markets like the US and Europe have fully recovered, while China is gradually returning to pre-pandemic import levels’. Farmed salmon and shrimp are the main drivers of trade growth. Read the full report here.
Rabobank’s useful global seafood map has also been updated for 2022 and is available for download here.
In the first 8 months of 2022, China’s total imports of seafood grew to US$12.199 billion, a year-on-year increase of 40.07%. The volume was 2.8914 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 23.28%. Read more here (Chinese).
Image: Buddhika Weerasinghe/Bloomberg via Getty Images
🦀 USA: Alaskan snow crab season cancelled
CBS News.com reports Alaskan authorities have cancelled the winter snow crab season in the Bering Sea due to falling crab numbers. It is the first time the season has been called off.
‘An estimated one billion crabs have mysteriously disappeared in two years, state officials said. It marks a 90% drop in their population.’
Read more here.
Image: Intrafish
📊 EU: Seafood imports increasing
According to a report from Intrafish.com, the European Union is becoming more reliant on imported seafood to satisfy domestic demand, with around 70 percent of all consumption supplied from overseas in 2021. This is partly due to falling catches and the impact of Brexit. Alaskan pollock and cod were key products where the EU effectively lacks domestic sources of supply. Read the story here.
Image: China News
🏰 China: Cross-border e-commerce retail centre
Huasheng reports Hunan’s first bonded warehouse combined with a retail complex will facilitate sales of imported goods, including fresh seafood, and customs clearance in the one place.
According to the article, ‘after the goods are purchased, unmanned vehicles will deliver real-time delivery within 3 to 5 minutes… This model combines the advantages of bonded exhibition and cross-border e-commerce. While strengthening customs supervision measures, it improves customs clearance efficiency, enhances consumers' shopping experience, effectively reduces customs supervision risks, and provides cross-border e-commerce.’
Read more here (Chinese)
Image: Post Courier
✈ Papua New Guinea: Live crab exports to Singapore
The last edition of Seafood News Bites linked to a story about Papua New Guinea’s new live seafood storage and export hub in Singapore. This week, Papua New Guinea’s Courier Post reports that modest exports of live mud crabs to the city have commenced. Read more here.
Image: Wow Korea
🍽 Korea: time to enlist?
‘In South Korea, super-luxury military lunches such as sushi and lobster are becoming a hot topic.’ Find out more here.
Image: Export Supply Chain Service (ESCS)
🚢 Export Supply Chain Snapshot
The Export Supply Chain Service (ESCS) published a new snapshot on 13 October. This edition focuses on sea freight. Download on the ESCS website here.
The STAG is funded by partners:
The Seafood Trade Advisory Group (STAG) is jointly funded by the Australian government and the fishing industry. We receive funds from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC).which is a statutory authority within the portfolio of the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Water and the Environment.
Any information provided in this STAG publication is general in nature. Before acting on any information provided, you should consider its appropriateness to your individual circumstances and business objectives.
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