January 4, 2010

China seafood output seen to grow in 2010

China is expected to produce 51.9 million tonnes of seafood in 2010, which would be up from 50.4 million tonnes this year, according to a new report from the US Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS).

However, as a result of the global economic slowdown, the value of China's seafood imports and exports are forecasted to decline for the first time in five years, to US$12.9 billion this year, which would be down from US$13.3 billion in 2008, reported the FAS.

The country's seafood exports are expected to amount to US$9.6 billion in 2009, which would be on par with 2008 and up from US$8.9 billion in 2007.

Japan remains China's No. 1 seafood export market, followed by the US, South Korea, Germany and Russia.

The country's expanding export market and growing demand for seafood are fuelling the production increase, said the FAS. As the middle class prospers and disposable incomes rise, the Chinese are eating more fish.

In 2007, China's per-capita seafood consumption totalled 14kg for urban dwellers, up from 13kg in 2006, and 5.4kg for rural dwellers, up from 5kg.

Much of China's production growth will come from aquaculture, which represented 70% of China's total seafood output in 2008, as wild catches level off, said FAS. In 2008, the area dedicated to aquaculture reached 6.5 million hectares, up 14% from 2007.

Tilapia production held steady at 1.11 million tonnes in 2008 and is projected to increase slightly in 2009, while catfish production is expected to jump from 224,000 tonnes in 2008 to 250,000 tonnes in 2009. US demand for tilapia and catfish is fuelling the production growth, said FAS.