AQUA: Chile established among the world’s major mussel exporters
Globefish, one of the agencies responsible for market analysis on seafood products for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has published its most recent report on international trade in mussels.
According to Globefish, the world’s current biggest importers of mussels experienced an 11,000-ton reduction in their purchases between January and September 2015, a fall of 6% compared to the equivalent period in 2014.
Despite the drop in global imports, the report highlights the fact that Chile is “becoming one of the primary exporters,” and shows that during the first nine months of 2015, shipments from Chile increased by 2,500 tons, reaching 59,300 tons overall. Furthermore, based on data provided by InfoTrade for AQUA, at 2015 year end, the national mussel farming industry sent a total of 69,499 tons to different markets, a figure 8% higher than the 64,096 tons exported in 2014, which translated into US$201 million in returns, 6% up from the previous year’s US$189 million.
Its counterpart, New Zealand, another major mussel producer, experienced a 21,200-ton drop in exports in the same period, a decline of 17% compared to the figure up to September 2014. However, during the last three months of 2015, New Zealand saw a reversal in this downward trend.
EU
The European Union (EU) as a region is one of the largest consumers of mussels, so acquisitions by its member nations play a considerable role in the outcome of world trade for this product.
An analysis of the January-September period for the past six years shows a growth in EU imports (from 149,000 to 172,000 tons); however, in the same time period in 2015, purchases fell 7% when compared to sales averaged for the same nine months for the years 2010 to 2014 (157,300 tons), with the Netherlands recording the greatest contraction: 5,700 tons (-34%).
Other European nations that experienced a significant drop in imports include Germany with 3,800 tons (-29%) and Russia with 3,300 tons (-46%).
Meanwhile, shipments to Italy, one of the largest mussel importers in Europe, increased by 4,800 (+16%).
Source: Aqua
