Exporters from Russia are shipping more crab to South Korea after being locked out of other international markets.
Many of the world’s biggest markets for crab, including the U.S., the E.U., the U.K. have announced bans on Russian seafood imports in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Simultaneously, Chinese government has imposed lockdowns in Shanghai and several other cities to control a COVID-19 outbreak, a move expected to hinder inflows of seafood to China.
As a result, Russia has redirected much of its crab exports to South Korea, resulting in plunging prices for crustaceans there over the past month, Reuters reported. According to data from South Korea’s leading seafood market, the Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market, live snow crab prices dropped to KRW 23,000 (USD 18.70, EUR 17.20) per kilogram in the end of March, from KRW 50,000 (USD 40.60, EUR 37.40) per kilogram in mid-February. More than double the typical supply of the product was recorded over that period.
King crab prices are also on the decline, though they are not officially monitored in Noryangjin. Kim Mi-kyeong, an owner of a fish store at the market, said king crab was now sold at KRW 85,000 (USD 69.00, EUR 63.50) per kilogram, down from KRW 110,000 (USD 89.30, EUR 82.20) per kilogram two months ago…