January 24, 2008

Seafood exports from China's Guangdong to US declines 71 percent in 2007

According to data released by the Customs General Administration, Guangdong's exports of seafood and aquaculture products to the USA in 2007 registered a 71.3 percent on-year decline to 13,000 tonnes.

Valued at US$25.61 million, this was significantly lower than the US$180-million registered in 2004.

By product type, Guangdong's frozen shrimp export to the US declined by a hefty 99.8 percent to just 70,000 tonnes in 2007. Shipments of tilapia to the US were down 76.5 percent while squid and cuttlefish exports registered a 7.4 percent fall.

Guangdong's seafood and aquaculture export volume fell sharply after US authorities introduced stricter import controls following discoveries that some Chinese farmed fish products contained food additives and antibiotics that were banned in the US.

The export crunch had also hurt domestic prices in Guangdong. Due to excess supplies, prices of shrimp had reached historic lows by August, a period when prices of other meat products such as pork had registered sharp gains.

RMB1=US$0.1383 (Jan 24)