Image: Goodprice VN / FIS

China imported 262 thousand tons of fishmeal from Vietnam

In 2023, China imported 1.65 million tons of fishmeal from countries around the world, down 9% compared to 2022. Of which, China imported nearly 262 thousand tons of fishmeal from Vietnam with a value of 425 million USD, increased 24% in volume and 48% in value. Vietnam is the second largest fishmeal supplier to China, after Peru.

In 2023, fishmeal imports from Peru to China will decrease by 51% to reach 430 million USD, due to El Nino weather reducing Peru's anchovy production.

Source: Stockfile FIS

The top 5 suppliers also include Russia, Thailand and India. Due to the decrease in imports from Peru, China increased imports from remaining supplies by 29%, reaching a record of nearly 1.2 million tons.

Previously, China depended on Peru - the source of more than half of imported fishmeal, serving the country's huge livestock and aquaculture industries.

Source: Stockfile FIS-->

Last year, China also bought a record 124,000 tons of fishmeal from India, mainly from small pelagics such as sardines and mackerel, more than doubling the volume by 2022.

Imports from Russia increased 20% to 134,000 tons. Imports from the US, Myanmar and Ecuador also reached new highs.

China is importing about 80 million tons of soybeans, an extremely large number. But they still need other proteins, including fishmeal.

In Vietnam, MarinTrust's only sustainable fishmeal products are from tuna, shrimp and pangasius scraps -- not fishmeal from mixed fisheries or small forage fisheries -- similar to Thailand Lan.

Fishmeal producing countries are targeting sales in China to take advantage of rising fishmeal prices. At $1,766/ton, China's average import price was the highest in history since 2000.

Source: Cổng Thông tin điện tử Chính phủ

Industry representatives say transparency and sustainability have been significantly enhanced. A large portion of current aquafeed ingredients come from fish processing by-products rather than just reduction fishing, while one-third of current production comes from aquaculture by-products.

Quality assurance schemes have also spread around the world to combat the illegal, unreported and unregulated activities that have contributed to overfishing in the past.

Soaring fishmeal prices last year inspired aquafeed manufacturers to ramp up research to cut volumes while preserving nutritional integrity.

Although fishmeal and fish oil remain the foundation for aquaculture feeds, improvements in the understanding of the nutritional requirements for different types of farmed fish have assisted in reducing reliance on fishmeal.

Source: Thanhkhoi -->

However, alternative products such as poultry meal and soy protein often lack digestibility or amino acid balance. Mittaine said the growing middle class and consumer demand for higher quality seafood such as grouper or sea bass also require more fishmeal inputs than carp or tilapia.

In any case, the global fishmeal industry is unlikely to increase production significantly, even with higher prices. The Chinese are searching for fishmeal all over the world, but can they find more despite the high price they have to pay?

After reaching a record high of 2,600 USD/ton, CFR China, for Peruvian ultra-pure fishmeal, the price has dropped to nearly 2,100-2,200 USD/ton. Scientists are very optimistic that the El Nino situation, in April and May, will be neutral and by June and July, it will completely decrease to La Nina, meaning Peru's anchovy production can recover.

Source: Thanhkhoi

However, other producing countries will not give up the newly acquired market share in China, they also compete. India has fishmeal that is 100 USD/ton cheaper than Peru, and the quality of their products is improving.

Source: Vasep (Translated from the original in Vietnamese)

Related News:

• IFFO’s estimates of the 2023 fishmeal and fish oil production and insights for 2024

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