Low demand reduces imports, logistics still a barrier for exports

Other fresh products which stopped being imported in the EU in March are fresh hake from Namibia and Chile, common sole from Iceland, fresh scallops from the USA, fresh clams from Tunisia, fresh blue mussels from Norway and fresh Nile perch fillets from Uganda. 

As regards extra-EU imports*, in week 14 of 2020, volume and value of extra-EU imports continued decreasing. Compared with week 13, volume dropped by 14% and value by 8%.

Volume of fresh products (mainly salmon and cod) imported in the last 4 weeks was 11% lower than in the same period of 2019**, although a similar trend was shown in both years: after a negative peak touched in week 13, in week 14 there was a recovery.

Imports of frozen products (mainly Alaska pollock) increased by 20% between week 11 and week 14 compared with 2019. While they were on a downward trend in 2019, in 2020 they reached a peak during week 13, only to be followed by a decline shortly thereafter.

Imports of prepared-preserved products (mainly skipjack tuna) in the last 4 weeks were 12% lower in volume compared with the same period of 2019. While they were increasing in 2019, between week 11 and week 14 of 2020 they fell by 30%.

Salmon: after a 3-week downward trend, value increased in week 14 by 4%, due to a 9%-growth of imported volumes from Norway. Import weekly price continued to decline, from 5,68 to 5,35 EUR/kg (-6%), despite NOK appreciation (+3%).

Cod: significant growth in value and volume was registered in week 14 compared to the previous week (+20% and +26%, respectively), due to increasing imports from Norway (+38%) and Russia (+58%). Weekly price decreased by 4%, its lowest since week 7 of 2020 (5,57 EUR/kg).

Skipjack tuna continued on a downward trend, dropping by 30% in volume and 18% in value in week 14, reaching the levels recorded at the beginning of the year. The import weekly price went down from 3,06 to 3,57 EUR/kg (+17%), despite USD depreciation (+1%).

Alaska pollock: Compared to the previous week, volume and value decreased significantly (-58% and -60%, respectively), and price went down from 2,98 to 2,84 EUR/kg (-5%).

Warmwater shrimps: extra-EU imports declined by 19% in volume and 17% in value.

EU imports of fresh whole seabass and seabream from Turkey have plummeted. Throughout March, imports dropped by more than 50%, and by more than 70% compared with week 14. Import prices were relative stable in week 13 and 14 at around 4 EUR/kg.

Data show that EU imports of fresh/live lobster from the USA practically stopped from week 12 (due to a combination of constraints in logistics and restaurant demand). US exports of fresh/live lobster have been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

As regards currencies of top suppliers, between 15th of March and 5th of April EUR depreciated against NOK (-11%) and GBP (-4%) and appreciated against USD, CNY and ISK (USD: +2%; CNY: +1%; ISK: +4%).

To learn more about the situation on the market, you can access most recent weekly data (up to week 13 of 2020) for extra EU imports in Europe.

*This analysis is based on weekly import data for a selection of 135 couples of CN-8 products and country of origin collected from the EU Commission – DG TAXUD. The complete list of products can be found here.

**To be noted that the 4-week period in 2019 did not include the week before Easter.