Peru’s fish exports will revive this year despite a shaky start and irrespective of the global economy, Humberto Speziani Cuevas, the president of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Committee of the Exporters Association (ADEX) has told the national news agency Andina. Fishing sector export sales in the first two months of the current year amounted to USD 341.3 million, down 21% on last year’s figure in the same period, ADEX reported citing its Data Trade Intelligence System.
Last year Peruvian exports of fishery products totaled 2.25 million metric tons (MT) in 2008, a 15.6% increase compared to the amount registered in 2007, Andina had previously reported Peru’s Ministry of Production as saying. This is mainly attributed to the increase in the sales of fishmeal (23.7%), frozen (16.7%) and cured fish products (6.3 %). Exports amounted to 2.4 billion dollars, showing an improvement of 24.1%
Contributing to the Decline
The waning of the euro against the dollar and the economic downturn — circumstances which saw a number of markets postponed or completely called off orders — all contributed to this years decline, Speziani Cuevas said. A total amount of US$ 250.6 million was generated via traditional fish exports, with those of non-traditional seafood products generating US$ 90.8 million in revenues.
Speziani Cuevas anticipates however that in the second half of the year 2009, exports of traditional products will increase, led by fishmeal which is the most important product in the traditional sub-sector.
The Importance of Fishmeal
Fishmeal exports totaled US$1.4 billion dollars during 2008, a 16.9 percent rise compared to 2007, according to the Peru’s Central Reserve Bank (BCR) in another Andina report. This was due to an increase in export volumes, up 24.3%, but partially offset by the decrease in average export price down 5.9%. In the first two months of this year its exports were valued at US$208.3million, according to ADEX. The first two months of this year also saw fish fats and oils valued at US$ 42.3 million being exported.
In the case of non-traditional seafood exports, sales from Peru include frozen fish, shrimp tails, mollusks, trout, scallops, and a wide range of canned species (tuna, bonito, and mackerel). The first two months of the year saw squid, giant squid, cuttlefish, other fish, other mollusks and aquatic invertebrates, frozen mackerel, shrimp tails, canned fish, as well as canned whole or chopped up mackerel and other preparations as the Peru’s primary exports in the seafood category, said ADEX.
India an Emerging Market
China, Taiwan, Japan, Spain, Germany, the United States, Canada, France, Belgium, and Denmark were the key markets to which traditional and non-traditional fish and shellfish were exported with India, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Jordan, and Ghana being considered emerging markets. Japan also looks set to become a more important market with a Free Trade Agreement between the two countries looming said the Peruvian-Japanese Business Council (Cepeja).
"When the bilateral agreement comes into effect, the most demanded products for Japan will undoubtedly be the organic, fishery and 100% Peruvian products," Cepeja Chairman Luis Vega also told Andina.
Peruvian executives in the fish industry were encouraged to look forward to a better tomorrow by helping to build unconventional business arenas. This can be done, ADEX said, via methods such as by branching out part of their production to the internal market and by focusing on other alternatives such as cost cutting and acquiring more export credits.
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