After the restoration of COVID restrictions in China, China’s demand for imported shrimp has declined, and Chinese shrimp buyers are facing weak domestic demand.
An importer said that mainly because of the epidemic, catering and banquet venues have been closed in some places.
The National Health Commission of China reported that as of August 10, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in China reached 1,686. Local governments are trying to control this wave of the epidemic through travel restrictions and large-scale testing.
On Wednesday (August 11), according to the Beijing report, the price per kilogram of 40-50 size vannamei was 555 rmb (85.57 US dollars). “The epidemic is making a comeback again. Controls have become stricter. If there are more new cases, this may further slow down consumption,” the importer in Beijing added. Before the most recent outbreak, the price of imported shrimp had reached the pre-COVID level. The importer in Shanghai stated that the price of imported shrimp was “very high and the ex-factory price was also very high, but domestic demand has not kept up. Therefore, “the domestic sales price is upside down compared to the foreign price,” and the Beijing importer agreed.
In June, China imported 50,000 tons of frozen vannamei shrimp, valued at US$295 million, which was the second highest import month in 2021. Mr. Cui, the president of the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Association, said that imported shrimp are facing greater competition from domestic farmed shrimp this year, which has exacerbated the downturn for the imported vannamei. “Last year domestic farmed shrimp was slightly affected by the epidemic. The reason was that feed transportation was interrupted during the epidemic. And this year’s domestic farmed shrimp production should be better.” He said that the estimated output is 1.3 million tons.
