Competition, Tighter Inspections Hurting China Seafood Exports

The stricter inspection standards in key export markets as well as strong competition from Vietnam are seriously damaging Chinese seafood exports, which fell in the first quarter of 2014, according to a key government quality and quarantine watchdog.

The decline in export markets, "technical trade" and other problems faced by exporters of fishery products from China "can not be ignored," according to a recent article in the China Gateway (Zhongguo Guomen) published by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ). article aims to Chinese customs statistics show that from January to April this year, China's exports of 1.14 million metric tons (MT) of aquatic products, worth USD 5.9 billion (EUR 4.4 million), fell 5.9 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively, year after year.

The AQSIQ article - it promotes a better quality of Chinese exports and oversees quarantine and import quality - points to the newly strict inspection measures imposed by the U.S., EU, Russia, South Korea exports of aquatic products in China. In particular, it points to the new more stringent control measures in Korea, said that took effect on January 1. The article describes the AQSIQ ten categories of "pharmaceutically active substances" focused on Korea, including nitrofurans, chloramphenicol and malachite green benzopyrene.

The other major threat facing China's seafood exports, as the AQSIQ sees it, is competition from Southeast Asia - particularly Vietnam.

The article states that "the rapid development of aquaculture exports from Thailand and Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries, is shifting our market share," and points to the official data of Vietnam for the first four months of this year show Vietnam It exported USD 22 billion (EUR 16 billion) dollars in aquatic products, an increase of 31.2 percent. "Exports to the U.S. increased 85 percent year on year to U.S. $ 547 million (403 million euros), accounting for 24.59 percent of total seafood exports of Vietnam ... while exports to Japan increased by 19 percent and exports to South Korea grew by 56.1 percent.” AQSIQ points to an ambitious goal of Vietnam. Increase exports to USD 8 billion (6000 million) to U.S. $ 9 billion (6.6 billion euros) 2020 "This will take some of our [China] market share."

China also runs the risk of losing market share because their costs of aquaculture continue to rise, due to increased labor and feed prices, according to the report of the AQSIQ. Is distinguished rises in the cost of fishmeal which he said rose up to 600 CNY ($ 96, 71 euros) per tonne so far this year, putting it at CNY 10,200 (USD 1,636 / EUR 1,206) per ton high grade Peruvian fishmeal.

Interestingly, the AQSIQ said the lack of well-known national brands of Chinese seafood and the need to do more value added to keep more of the value of exports of processed seafood in Chinese hands. What terms AQSIQ "profound transformation" currently represents less than 30 percent of exports of products made in China. AQSIQ is advising companies to improve their processing equipment, improve self-regulation of antibiotic residues while developing new export markets.