China has closed a number of its ports and stopped accepting fish from Russia because of the coronavirus.

This means that Russia is losing its largest fish importer (61% of domestic fish exports).

The revenues of Russian fishermen in the passing year amounted to almost 3.3 billion dollars in exports to China. Russia does not have the capacity to process its entire fish catch. South Korea, which is the second largest importer, will not help here either, as the ports of this country are already overloaded with fish, the media reports.

At the moment, the media also reported that the companies Dobroflot and Norebo were refused to unload fish in the Chinese port of Dalian. The receiving party explained this by the risk of coronovirus infection, which they fear more than economic damage from the suspension of work of several enterprises.

On the eve of the Dalian closure, another port, Qingdao, stopped receiving cargo.

Earlier China announced that it had started to check all imported products coming into the country for kovids and was obliged to disinfect them. And this fall Russian suppliers and Rosrybolovstvo management were told that live coronavirus pathogens were found in our frozen fish. Since then, delays in unloading Russian food, particularly fish, have begun.

Russian fishermen may face serious difficulties early next year with the start of pollock season in the Sea of Okhotsk. The catch of this fish is planned at the level of 1.2 million tons. Only 280 thousand tons of them will go to Russia due to the limited processing and purchasing power of the country's residents; the rest part traditionally went to foreign markets.

In order to sell their products Russian fishermen are willing to reduce the cost to the marginal profitability level in order to provoke China to allow the imports. For example, the price per ton of pollack was 1.6 thousand dollars a year ago, but now the figure is 1-1.2 thousand. At the same time, the media do not rule out a stronger decrease.

German Zverev, President of the All-Russian Fishery Industry Association, said that there is no need to "cause a panic", because, according to him, the Rosselkhoznadzor and the Federal Agency for Fishery, which can come to an agreement with China, must step in.

Made in Russia // Made in Russia

Author: Ksenia Gustova