Salmon Farmers Hit by China Boycott After New Virus Outbreak
Salmon farmers have been hit by restrictions in China, where a new outbreak of the coronavirus was blamed on imported fish.
(Bloomberg) -- Salmon farmers have been hit by restrictions in China, where a new outbreak of the coronavirus was blamed on imported fish.
The red-fleshed fish is now being boycotted in China after new infections were traced back to the chopping board of a seller of imported salmon at a market in the capital. Orders have been canceled and “it’s difficult to ship fish to Beijing” in the near term, said Anders Snellingen, manager for global operations at the Seafood Council for Norway, the world’s biggest producer.
China still represents a small share of global salmon demand, making up less than 5% last year, but it’s also one of the fastest growing markets and fish farmers were already feeling the squeeze of pandemic restrictions.
“We had to rebook our shipments to China and direct it toward other markets,” Grieg Seafood ASA spokeswoman Kristina Furnes said by phone. While there is now closer scrutiny of salmon, the same applies to other food imports as well, she said. Grieg doesn’t export large volumes to China and hasn’t had any cases of Covid-19 in its organization.
Oslo-listed Bakkafrost P/F, the biggest salmon producer in the Faroe Islands, has halted shipments to China altogether, Chief Executive Officer Regin Jacobsen said by phone on Tuesday. Sales to China represented 14% of the company’s total in the first quarter, down from 24% in the same period last year.
“We have a feeling that this will take some time -- two weeks, four weeks, we don’t know,” Jacobsen said. “But we also have a feeling that it will gradually become evident to all that salmon is not a bearer of Covid-19.”
Most salmon stocks in Oslo fell for a second day on Tuesday, with Bakkafrost dropping as much as 4.2%. Leroy Seafood Group ASA fell 1.9%, Salmar ASA 1.8% and Norway Royal Salmon ASA 2%. Mowi ASA, the world’s biggest producer, was little changed as of 3:43 p.m. in Oslo.
Government Response
Norway’s government was contacted by Chinese authorities and is preparing a response on Tuesday in order to limit the impact on its industry, Fisheries Minister Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen said in a statement.
The Fisheries Ministry said that Chinese authorities haven’t imposed an import ban, according to an emailed statement from spokeswoman Martine Roiseland on Tuesday. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority said there were no known cases of infection via contaminated food.
“Fish and seafood products from Norway are safe to eat,” the authority said in a statement on its website.
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