BEIJING: Domestic shrimp prices in China are rising strongly amid seasonally low domestic shrimp production. But prices are still 15-30% lower than during the same period last year, possibly on the back of another big increase in shrimp imports. According to Undercurrent News’ prices portal, in the month of February — when Chinese New Year was celebrated — shrimp prices were CNY 59.4 per kilo ($8.63, farmgate, head on shell on, 80 count) in Guangdong Province, China’s largest shrimp production region. This was 30% below prices in February of 2016 for the key benchmark. In Fujian Province, another large production area, prices were CNY 65 per kilo (farmgate, HOSO, 80 count), or 20% below year-ago levels.
January and February are the most busy months in the calendar for shrimp sales in China. Lower prices indicate shrimp traders were well-stocked — or demand fell short of expectations — for CNY. The former seems more likely. In November and December of 2016 — key months for Chinese stocking up in preparation for CNY — China likely imported 30-50% more shrimp from key suppliers Ecuador and India compared with the corresponding period in 2015. The imports were mostly shipped via Vietnam, which is used is a staging post for smugglers importing large volumes of shrimp into China. According to International Trade Center (ITC) figures, Ecuador exported 29,693 metric tons to the southeast Asia country over November and December, up 30% year-on-year. India exported 22,143t to Vietnam during the two months, up a massive 83% y-o-y. Late last November sources told Undercurrent hotels in India and Vietnam were full of Chinese buying up shrimp. Last year during CNY shrimp prices were especially high — the highest in the past four years, according to Undercurrent’s prices dashboard. In February 2016, prices reached CNY 107 per kilo of shrimp (60 count) in Guangdong. This year prices are lower but nevertheless rising strongly, now that seasonally low supply of domestic shrimp is impacting the market.
