The Tuna Market in China Has Entered A Period Of Rapid Development

The tuna market in China has entered a period of rapid development, and the demand for fish tin heads has exploded

Since 2019, China's domestic tuna market has entered a period of rapid development. The export of frozen whole tuna (Skipjack bonito) has slowed down, while the demand for cooked frozen fish fillets and canned tuna has steadily increased.

From 2019 to the first half of 2021, China imported 95,755 tons of tuna products worth $185 million, of which frozen bonito (whole fish) accounted for 81.5 percent, Wang Long, chairman of Shandong Marine Products Co LTD, said during the 10th International Tuna Summit held in Vigo, Spain, last week.

In 2022, the import volume of bonito doubled to 44,360 tons. In 2021, the import volume continued to grow, exceeding 29,000 tons in the first half of the year. In contrast, yellowfin tuna imports fell.

In 2020, the import of frozen whole skipjack bonito increased by 121% from the previous year, and is expected to maintain a 40% growth rate in 2021. The import growth of Shandong province was stable, while that of Fujian Province started from a low point and showed a significant growth trend.

In addition, since the beginning of this year, the proportion of tuna products directly collected has increased significantly, and the growth rate is much higher than that of the imported processing sector, indicating that the domestic demand has entered a stage of rapid growth.

Since 2014, demand for canned tuna in China has gradually increased and there is still a lot of growth potential, Wang said. More than 7,000 canned tuna orders are placed on Tmall each month, with each order containing an average of five canned products. By comparison, the online celebrity crayfish has more than 20,000 orders a month on Tmall, while the top-ranked white shrimp with its shell and thread removed sells more than 40,000 orders a month.

In terms of exports, From 2019 to July 2021, China exported 466,000 tons of tuna with a value of $1.98 billion. Exports rose slightly in 2020 but fell sharply in 2021, with frozen whole fish exports falling to 6,761 tonnes in the first July of this year.

Canned products exports grew by 10% to 136,256 tonnes in 2020 and are expected to exceed or equal the 2020 level in 2021. Exports of frozen fish steaks fell 16 percent to 9,850 tons in 2020, but exceeded 9,000 tons in the first seven months of 2021.