Big increase in official Chinese shrimp imports, but total still lags Japan

China’s official imports of shrimp increased by 68% year-on-year to 32,000 metric tons during the first six months of 2016, with Argentina the main beneficiary, according to latest customs figures from International Trade Center (ITC).

The figures—which do not include imports from Vietnam due to lack of data—show Argentina exported 13,155t of shrimp (HS:030617) to China during the January-June period, an increase of 194% compared with the corresponding period of 2015.

It sees Argentina overtake Ecuador as China’s largest official supplier of shrimp; while Ecuador’s direct shrimp exports to China were up 94% for the Jan-June period, they fell short of Argentina’s, coming in at 9,217t.

The recent surge in Argentine shrimp exports to China—in 2014, Argentina exported just 8,869t to China for the full year—has fueled a flurry of interest from foreign and domestic investors in the country's shrimp industry. 

Last year, Argentina was second to Ecuador in total shrimp exports to China for the year, according to ITC, which is a joint agency of the World Bank and United Nations (see graph).

But while Ecuador’s 2016 H1 exports to China almost doubled, Ecuador’s official exports to China during the eight months to August—ITC’s data for Ecuador is more up-to-date than for Argentina—were down by 31% year-on-year to 10,161t.

That Ecuador’s official exports to China could nearly double in H1 of this year, but then fall back to a third below year-ago levels after July and Aug., is owing to the fact most of Ecuador’s official exports to China in 2015 were fulfilled from July-Dec, when they soared to 22,140t for the six-month period (see graph).

So far in 2016, this surge has not materialized in the data, with Ecuador's official imports in fact falling month-on-month in July and Aug., possibly because Chinese New Year orders have come later or Ecuador’s exports are being re-directed through third countries, such as Vietnam.

India, the world’s largest shrimp exporter by some distance, saw exports to China down slightly in H1 of 2016, sitting at 3,329t (-0.6%) for the period. Mirroring Ecuador, India’s exports were down by a more substantial 27% for the nine months to Sept. 30.

The value of Argentina’s official exports to China came in at $81.7 million for the first six months of this year, while the total value of Ecuador’s official exports were $65.3m for the same period.

But, Argentine shrimp was cheaper than shrimp from its South American counterpart; Argentine exports were valued at an average of $6,120/t and 6,300/t in Q1 and Q2 respectively, while Ecuador’s were more expensive at $7,050/t and $7,120/t during the respective periods.

Overall, Chinese importers paid an average of $7,340/t and $6,980/t of shrimp in Q1 and Q2, according to Chinese customs.

In international rankings of shrimp importing countries, in terms of volume China still ranks below its East Asian neighbor Japan; Japan imported 59,000t in the Jan-June period against China’s 32,000t.

Furthermore, Japan will not have reprocessed any of those imports for export, whereas China does so for a sizeable portion.

Japanese shrimp imports were also more expensive, at an average of $8,710/t and $9,610/t for Q1 and Q2.

Among the top-ten origins of shrimp exported to China, Australian shrimp was the most expensive, at $9,110/t.

However, Australia exported a total of just 456t of shrimp to the country in the nine months to Sept. 30, with exports down year-on-year in Q3 as with Ecuador and India.

NOTE: The above trade figures are reported by exporting countries' customs houses, not Chinese customs, which tend to report lower figures. This is especially the case for imports from Argentina shrimp exports, which Chinese customs reported were just 6,894t for the full year of 2015 (Argentina reported total shrimp exports to China of 20,251t). ITC says there are up to 30 reasons why importers and their partner countries' data do not match.