Ministry of Agriculture: National Aquatic Products Import and Export Situation in the First Half of 2012

According to statistics from the customs, in the first half of this year, the total import and export of aquatic products in China was 3,819,500 tons, and the total volume of imports and exports was 12.499 billion US dollars, which was a year-on-year increase of 0.21% and 10.85% respectively. Among them, the export volume was 1,784,700 tons, down 4.73% year-on-year, the export volume was 8,747 million US dollars, up 11.28% year-on-year; the import volume was 2.0347 million tons, and the import volume was 3,753 million US dollars, up 4.98% and 9.86% year-on-year respectively. Exports of aquatic products accounted for 29.3% of total agricultural exports, which was 2% higher than the same period of last year.

First, the volume of export processing imports to reduce the amount of imports in the first half of this year, China's imports of aquatic products processing exports of 534,400 tons, exports of 2.511 billion US dollars, respectively, year-on-year reduction of 6.76% and 4.01%, to feed processing trade exports The proportion of total exports of aquatic products was 28.72%, down 2% year-on-year. In the first half of this year, China’s aquatic product processing trade performed better than feed processing, of which 390,300 tons of export processing and exports amounted to 1.819 billion US dollars, which was 8.31% and 2.13% less than the same period of the previous year; and processing and export volume was 14.11. Ten thousand tons, the export value of 693 million US dollars, respectively, down 2.14% and increase 9.28%.

Second, the general trade export volume devaluation increased in the first half of the general trade of aquatic products exports 1,141,200 tons, down 4.82% year on year, export value of 6.109 billion US dollars, an increase of 14.61%. Among them, shrimp, shellfish, squid, tilapia, large yellow croaker, crayfish, squid and other famous cultured aquatic products as the main export trade varieties, exports accounted for 45.8% of China's total trade exports. Exports of shellfish and squid depreciated, exports of big yellow croaker decreased, and the volume of tilapia exports increased in the second quarter. However, export unit prices remained low, and farmers and enterprises could not be protected. Affected by the drought, the export of freshwater crayfish dropped sharply in 2011, showing a recovery growth this year, with exports and value rising by 315.6% and 434.5% respectively year-on-year. Crab products (including crabs, hairy crabs, other crabs and processed products, mainly for crabs and their products) exported 73,300 tons, and exports amounted to 997 million US dollars, an increase of 4.85% and 24.72% respectively year-on-year.

Third, the share of the traditional market continues to decline Japan and the United States are still among the top two in China's export market. South Korea slipped to sixth place from my fourth-largest export market, and its share continued to decline. Among the major export markets, the volume of exports from the United States, Taiwan, and Hong Kong all increased, while the exports from Japan and ASEAN increased, while the exports from the EU and South Korea both fell. Due to the prolonged delay in the European debt crisis and the shrinking market demand, exports of aquatic products to Europe began to show a declining trend since the second half of last year, and the decline has continued to widen this year.

4. The growth rate of exports from major provinces has slowed down. Coastal provinces such as Shandong, Fujian, Guangdong, Liaoning, Zhejiang, Hainan, Jiangsu and Guangxi are still the main exporting provinces of aquatic products. The sum of exports accounts for the total export of aquatic products in China. 93.9%. Among them, Shandong Province has continued to maintain its position as the largest exporter of aquatic products in China; Fujian’s aquatic product export volume has dropped significantly. Although exports have continued to increase, the increase has been significantly lower than the same period of last year. The sum of exports from Shandong and Fujian provinces accounted for nearly half of the country's total exports of aquatic products. Zhejiang's exports of aquatic products have fallen sharply and exports have increased slightly. Among the inland provinces, Jiangxi, Hubei, and Jilin Province are among the top three. Among them, Hubei Province suffered a significant decline in export volume due to severe natural disasters last year and this year witnessed a marked recovery.

5. Imports of fishmeal increased. Imports of raw materials for processing and imports of domestic aquatic products decreased. The import volume of aquatic products in China during the first half of the year increased by 2,034.7 thousand tons, and the import volume reached US$3.753 billion, which was an increase of 4.98% and 9.86% respectively year-on-year. Among them, 272,200 tons of imported raw materials for processing and imports, and 1.454 billion US dollars worth of imports, decreased by 1.74% and 3.51% over the same period of last year. The import volume of fishmeal was 602,600 tons and the import volume was 772 million US dollars, up by 29.1% and 7.11% year-on-year respectively. The import of domestic edible aquatic products continued to increase steadily, with imports of 704,900 tons and import value of 1.527 billion US dollars, down 3.61% and 18.29% year-on-year respectively.