The inventory of tilapia in the United States is high,high pressure on the sales of tilapia in China

Since the end of June, China's production has entered the peak season. After US importers stocked up intensively to cope with tariff uncertainties, the inventory is sufficient and the demand for replenishment has dropped significantly.

In the 29th week (July 14-20), the wholesale price of frozen tilapia in the United States (as shown in the figure below) has remained stable in recent weeks. The inventory held by importers is sufficient to buffer market fluctuations. Most buyers have chosen to wait and see, or they have missed the purchasing opportunity in front of them.

A person in charge of a Guangdong processing company said: "There is still no good news from the US market. We have revised our marketing strategy to minimize their risks as much as possible."

The price difference between the upstream and downstream of the tilapia market reflects more the problem on the demand side, and US buyers (especially retailers) remain cautious. Affected by tariffs, terminal prices have risen sharply, sales in various channels have slowed down, and the sales decline in the retail industry is more significant.

Due to the crazy stockpiling in the past few months, US cold storage facilities are operating at high load, the circulation speed of spot inventory has declined, importers can barely maintain daily purchases, the capital turnover speed has slowed down, and the possibility of large-scale inventory replacement is low.

At the same time, Chinese suppliers are also actively promoting the US market, offering more attractive sales conditions. Some exporters have proposed a "delivery duty paid" (DDP) trade plan, promising to maintain prices even if tariffs change, in an attempt to inject confidence into the hesitant market.

On the Chinese aquaculture side, Guangdong and Hainan have strengthened environmental compliance supervision of tilapia aquaculture since this year. All exported raw materials must be officially registered, and farms must add tailwater treatment facilities, increasing farmers' fixed costs. At a time when prices are low, these costs further squeeze farmers' profit margins.

Referecen : UCN