Soybean imports to Southeast Asia could double over the next 10 years, buoyed by demand from fish farms looking to feed China, the U.S. Soybean Export Council said Sept. 19.
China, with the world s largest population, was the largest consumer of seafood last year, after Japan, a research report said.
China consumed about 694 million tonnes of ocean resources each year, compared with 582 million tonnes by Japan and 349 million by the United States which ranked third for production and consumption.
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A whole area that is new and different that we see, is the whole aquaculture area the growth of fish industries, chief executive officer Jim Sutter, told Reuters on the sidelines at the SE AsiaUSAgriculturalCo-operators Conference. China today is the world s largest producer of fish& a huge consumer of fish, he said adding that China now exports some of what they produce.
Forecasts would tell you, that in the years to come, all the fish that they are producing, they re going to consume themselves. They will likely start to import fish to feed their population.
Total Southeast Asian soymeal imports are estimated at 10.8 million tonnes, with the United States contributing 2.3 million tonnes, Sutter added.
I believe a lot of that s going to have to come from Southeast Asia, said Sutter, on future Chinese fish demand, adding that countries like Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia were best placed to meet this demand.
We could double over the next 10 years exports to Southeast Asia, easily on the growth of aquaculture demand, he added.
