Industry Review
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Some updates on global tilapia production I
n its July report on the tilapia, Globefish (2021) said that the global tilapia industry was able to adapt to the new market landscape by leveraging retail experience and price advantage. It was expected to resume a steady expansion in 2021 although challenged by rising costs. At GOAL 2021 held in November, Gorjan Nikolik, Rabobank summarised that global production is expected to increase 1.5% in 2021 and in 2022 by 3.75%. China, Indonesia, and Egypt completely dominant global tilapia production at 75% of global volumes (Figure 1)
Figure 1. Growth in supply of global tilapia (tilapia and other cichlids). Source: Rabobank, FAO, GSA 2021.
In reporting results of the GOAL survey on finfish production, Nikolik gave some trends (% changes) which have been normalised to FAO 2019 data for consistency of reporting from the survey respondents. China and Indonesia, the big producing countries showed growth at CAGR of 2.8% and 11.9%, respectively, over the years, 2010-2019. The GOAL annual survey showed that production started to improve in 2021 and into 2022 (Figure 2). More growth is evident in the other producing countries in Asia such as in Bangladesh, Philippines and Thailand. Bangladesh’s tilapia production grew at 34% up to 2019, crossed the 250,000 tonnes and is still growing. Nikolik said that the giant of African aquaculture is Egypt with its tilapia production. The historical growth was around 7.6% and according to survey respondents, growth will drop at around 3.7% because of some constraints
Figure 2. Production trends of tilapia production in China and Indonesia & growth projections for 2020-2022 according to GOAL Survey 2021. Source: Rabobank, FAO, GSA 2021.
particularly of land and water. All other African producers have sizeable production with a combined annual volume of 200,000 tonnes. Although still small in terms of current production volumes, Sub Saharan Africa’s tilapia production is expected to grow fast. In 2021, growth was 10.5% from 8.5% in 2020.
Brazil challenging China’s tilapia dominance
Bullish and almost double-digit growth numbers indicating “an incredible rise” in Latin America’s tilapia industry, which is currently the fastest-growing tilapia region, driven by Brazil (globalseafood.org). Colombia and Mexico are expected to continue to grow in 20212022 after growing at 7.5% and 24.0%, respectively, over the 2010-2019 period. In recent years, the Brazilian tilapia industry has been identified as one of the most notable success stories of Latin American aquaculture rising to the 4th largest tilapia producer. This impressive growth is steadily turning into export revenue (Globefish 2021). In 2021, tilapia production was 534,005 tonnes, 9.8% over that in 2020, said Dr Gustavo L. N. Bozano, Aqua Lagus during a Phileo Lesaffre tilapia webinar in May 2021. This volume was 63.5% of Brazil’s total aquaculture production according to the Brazilian Aquaculture Association (PeixeBr, 2022). According to a recent report from the Peixe BR, Brazil exported tilapia worth USD6.1 million in the first six months of 2021, an increase of 28% compared with the same period in 2020. Fresh fillet is the most exported tilapia product and the US remains the number one market. Brazil is benefiting from the 25% import tariff on Chinese tilapia in the US. This combined with high freight rates and other logistical issues has created opportunities for Latin American producers who can fly fresh tilapia into the US market within hours of harvest. In turn, China imports significantly large volumes of Brazilian exports in 2021 as compared to 2020. Bozano said that the cost of tilapia production in Brazil has risen by 80% but selling price has only risen 4050%. Therefore, margins are tight and producers adopt measures to improve performance. Exports have doubled in the last three years supported but the favourable exchange rate. (References available on request)
Figure 3. Production trends of tilapia production in Latin America led by Brazil and growth projections for 2020-2022 according to GOAL Survey 2021. Source: Rabobank, FAO, GSA 2021. Others* Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Peru, Venezuela
July/August 2022 AQUA Culture Asia Pacific
