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Salmon has overtaken shrimp as the most popularly traded fish as new products have helped open up fresh markets.
In 2013, for the first time salmon overtook shrimp, accounting for 17 per cent of the total traded value of seafood. Shrimp, meanwhile, had a 15 per cent share, according to new figures from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization.
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The trend is expected to have continued, with salmon accounting for about a fifth of all seafood trade in 2015 and shrimp 16 per cent, according to early FAO estimates based on available monthly data.
Seafood is the highest traded food commodity by value, and shrimp has been the most traded species for decades. However, production and price volatility due to disease has reduced its share in international trade. Growing demand in the producers’ own domestic markets has also led to lower exports, according to the FAO.
Salmon is very versatile it can be canned, smoked and processed in other ways. Shrimp has more issues in production volatility, said Audun Lem, a seafood official at the FAO.
Over the past few years the international trade in shrimp and prawns has been affected by disease, which has hit the industry in Thailand, one of the leading producers and exporters.
Production had been falling in the Asian producer since 2012 due to the so-called early mortality syndrome, with prices hitting a record high in 2014. In 2015, output recovered for the first time in 3 years, pushing prices down by 15 to 20 per cent.
The salmon trade has been buoyed by rising demand in the US and Europe and higher prices, especially for the fish produced in Norway, the top producer and exporter. In contrast, Chile, the second leading grower, has been facing falling prices and higher production costs.
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The demand for the oily fish has led to the development of genetically modified salmon. US regulators have licensed the production and consumption of the controversial product, although it is unlikely leading retailers will stock the fish once it is available.
The changes in seafood trade come as demand has been supported by more consumers appreciating the health benefits of eating fish regularly.
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Expectations of steady demand growth have attracted new entrants into the fish farming sector. Mitsubishi of Japan bought Norwegian salmon producer Cermaq for $1.4bn in 2014, while last year Cargill, the US commodities trader, acquired EWOS, the Norwegian fish-feed company, for $1.5bn.
World fish consumption per person between 2011 and 2015 has risen from 18.7kg to 20kg, according to the FAO. Although the international trade for seafood declined in value to about $130bn in 2015 from $144bn the year before, volumes are expected to remain stable or slightly increase, the organisation said.
Nevertheless, the industry is likely to feel the impact of slowing or negative growth in new markets including Russia, Brazil and China, which supported demand over the past few years.
We’ve seen serious demand issues in some countries, said Gorjan Nikolik, seafood analyst at Rabobank. The EU and US markets have taken on some of the lost consumption despite high prices, but the recalibration in market growth has meant changes in trade flows for seafood, he added.
The Financial Times Ltd 2016