China increasingly calls the shots in the global shrimp industry with its market now worth billions to foreign exporters, latest Chinese customs data published on Wednesday (Sept. 25) shows.

Chinese figures show that in August, China imported $372 million worth of frozen warmwater shrimp, taking its imports to $2.29bn for the first eight months of the year, while the volume of imports came to 63,000 metric tons for the month, or 378,000t for the Jan-Aug period.

The figures represent an increase of 234% in volume and 185% in value for the eight-month period, compared with the corresponding time last year.

The huge volume and value of China's imports -- second only to shrimp imports by the US -- underlines the potential for disruption if the country changes its import requirements, as it did in August and September for several key suppliers.

In August and September, Chinese authorities suspended export approvals of facilities owned by companies in China's first, third and fourth-largest shrimp supplying countries -- Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam respectively.

The suspensions were imposed apparently with no forewarning on the grounds shrimp products carried disease.

While China swiftly withdrew suspensions for some and introduced exemptions for cooked shrimp, other firms remain on the list.

Ecuador China's largest supplier

Between Jan-Aug, China imported the most volume of shrimp from Ecuador. Last month, 36,500t of Ecuadorian shrimp entered China, taking the Asian country's imports from Ecuador in Jan-Aug to 187,000t.

India supplied 16,400t last month, taking China's imports from the country to 95,000t in the eight-month period, while Vietnam supplied 3,600t, taking imports to 15,700t.

Despite the suspension of imports from Saudi Arabia's NAQUA, imposed on Aug. 2, China imported 1,900t of shrimp from the Middle Eastern country last month, taking its imports to 25,000t for the first eight months. NAQUA is the only company in Saudi Arabia certified to export shrimp to China.

It is not clear how Chinese importers continued to import shrimp from Saudi Arabia in August. NAQUA did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.

Decline of the Hai Phong route

The huge increase in China's shrimp imports follows the rapid decline of the Hai Phong route, which refers to the ilicit cross-border trade from Vietnam's northernmost port into China. Previously, most shrimp was imported by China via this channel undocumented.

In July and August, when this route was closed off, China's direct imports surged to 125,000t, Chinese figures show.

When factoring in additional volumes imported through Vietnam earlier in the year, China's total shrimp imports between Jan-Aug likely surpassed half a million metric tons, Undercurrent estimates.

Earlier this year, Chinese industry officials forecast China would import over 800,000t of shrimp in 2019 (including coldwater shrimp), overhauling the US to become the world's largest shrimp importer by volume.

Note: The above figures for Chinese warmwater shrimp imports include imports of Argentine red shrimp, which is a wild-caught coldwater shrimp species traded under the same HS code.

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