Seafood exporters increase their sales in the struggling Chinese market with lower prices

Fan Xubing, CEO of Beijing-based seafood consultancy Seabridge International, predicted a decline in Chinese seafood imports in 2024, stressing that exporters supplying products to the country would have to settle for lower prices if they wanted to gain a foothold in the huge market.

“Personally, I believe China's seafood imports will be lower in 2024 than in 2023. I think the economy in China was really bad in the first half of 2024,” Fan said. “Consumers are looking for cheaper seafood or substitute products. I think this year most seafood exports to China will have to lower their prices to keep their market, and cheaper seafood will probably be more attractive compared to higher-priced products. For the whole of 2024, it's a bit too early to draw conclusions because we don't know if the economy will recover.”

This has put exporters in a position where maintaining or even expanding their focus on China is a gamble, albeit an extremely lucrative one if the financial landscape recovers. For example, export prices for salmon shipped to China have fallen in 2024, but demand in the country has increased, suggesting a big return if the price trajectory is corrected.

“We are seeing a 10 percent increase in salmon consumption [in China] this year,” Qiang Weng, purchasing manager at Beijing-based Sunkfa International Food, told SeafoodSource.

This demand caught the attention of …