By Louis Harkell Aug. 27, 2019 14:59 BST
China has temporarily banned imports of shrimp from Saudi Arabia. The ban has been followed by 40 shrimp exporters from Iran being granted market access.
China imported 23,048 metric tons of shrimp from Saudi Arabia in the first six months of this year, according to Chinese customs.
The temporary ban was announced (see below) on Aug. 2 by China’s General Administration of Customs and applies to Saudi Arabia’s National Aquaculture Group (NAQUA).
NAQUA -- Saudi Arabia's largest aquaculture company -- was previously the only Saudi firm permitted to export to China.
No end date was given for the ban.
An executive with NAQUA did not respond to immediate requests for comment.
Chinese industry publication Foodspath said Chinese customs detected white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) in a shipment of shrimp. Citing an industry source, it reported Chinese customs implemented the ban “to prevent the disease from entering China”.
However, the possibility of WSSV being detected in Saudi shrimp was dismissed as “nonsense” by an executive with a large Asian shrimp company, who told Undercurrent News Saudi shrimp would not have carried WSSV.
Furthermore, WSSV is already present at Chinese shrimp farms, according to China's own government aquaculture agencies.
The temporary ban was shortly followed by market access being granted to the clutch of Iranian shrimp exporters.
Iran exports some 30,000t of shrimp annually with China its largest market.
Among exporters granted permission to sell fisheries products to the country is shrimp processor Daryazad Seafood Products. According to its website, the firm is headquartered in Bushehr province, a coastal region on the Persian Gulf, and produces raw processed and value-added shrimp products.
Iranian veterinary authorities said China approved the exporters after they met Chinese laws, regulations and standards. The updated Chinese list including the firms was published on Aug. 14.
In 2018, China imported no shrimp directly from Iran, official figures show.
Iran's exporters have relied on sending shrimp to China through Vietnam in the absence of official export approval. Exporting through Vietnam has become more challenging, however, due to a crackdown in transshipment by Chinese authorities.
For NAQUA, the temporary ban counts as a blow, especially with orders for Chinese New Year set to be made in the next few months.
It appears to have pinned its future on the country; China's preference for head-on, shell-on shrimp allows the firm to keep labor costs low and remain competitive. Meanwhile, China imported 19,033t of shrimp in January of this year from Saudi Arabia but just 306t in June, according to Chinese figures, indicating NAQUA had geared towards supplying the market for Chinese New Year.
The January surge meant in the first six months of 2019, Saudi Arabia was China's third-largest shrimp supplier, with imports from the country worth $145 million.
With the transshipment route through Vietnam seemingly closed, the firm could face a challenge to find other markets if the ban is not lifted.
Contact the author louis.harkell@undercurrentnews.com
