January 16, 2015

During the 2014 fiscal year, the value of U.S. fish and seafood exports to China climbed 4% year on year to $5.3 billion. A decade ago the country accounted for 7% of total U.S. fish and seafood exports, however currently, China, which is the biggest seafood consumer in the world, accounts for 22% of total U.S. fish and seafood exports, compared to the EU which accounts for 23%. During that same fiscal year, both China and the EU took 26% of U.S. frozen and fresh fish exports including filets. The only other country in the world which exports more seafood than the U.S. to China is Russia. Demand for high value products such as lobster, crab, and Pacific salmon are mainly driving growth. China has already overtaken the EU as the top destination for U.S. shellfish, taking 20% of exports compared to 19% to the EU. The volume of U.S. lobster exports to China for the first 11 months of 2014 climbed 44.7% compared to the same time period the year before, reaching 5,029,075 tons, while the value of these exports increased 37.7% year on year to $80,748,668.

Read the article

To receive relevant news stories with summaries provided by GAI Research & Insight, subscribe to Global AgDevelopments, our free weekly enhanced eNews service