A worker shows netted freshwater shrimps at Fengshengwan fishery base in Balidian Township of Wuxing District, Huzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Oct. 12, 2018. Staffs of the Fengshengwan fishery base are busy with their work in the fishing season for freshwater shrimps. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

China's shrimp imports from Iran have tumbled due to the rapid development of the Iranian novel coronavirus outbreak, which has caused shipping problems, a Chinese industry insider said on Monday.

It is difficult to forecast when supplies from Iran can resume, the source told the Global Times on the condition of anonymity. 

China imports about 30,000 tons of shrimp annually from Iran and is recorded as its largest market for the crustaceans; Iran grows 47,000 tons of shrimp per year, of which 85 percent is exported, according to media reports.

Iranian shrimp are relatively small, which is more suitable for markets in Northwest and Northeast China. With a small stock, the price of Iranian shrimp may be pushed up further in the future, Chinese industrial news site Seafood Guide reported on Sunday, citing a Chinese importer.

Although concerns about the supply of Iranian shrimp linger as the nation has become one of the countries hardest-hit by the coronavirus spread, imports from Iran do not account for a major part of China's market and any suspension would not boost overall shrimp prices in China.

Iran had reported 978 COVID-19 cases by Sunday, with 385 newly confirmed patients. The outbreak has spread to 27 of the country's 31 provinces.

Since China began to make all efforts to combat the spread of the virus in late January, imports of seafood to the country have been impacted by curtailed logistics. Now concerns are prolonged as the epidemic evolves quickly overseas, despite the epidemic easing in China.

Tons of lobsters have been stranded in export holding tanks in Australia since demand from China declined sharply due to the epidemic during the Spring Festival holidays - usually a peak season for Australian lobsterers, local media ABC reported.

As Australia's biggest lobster exporter, Geraldton Fishermen's Cooperative delivers 97 percent of its products to China and hopes the impact of the epidemic will diminish as soon as possible, the report said.

China is a major global consumer of marine goods, with its imports of aquatic and marine products in 2019 surging 37.6 percent year-on-year, according to data from China's General Administration of Customs.

Shrimp imports from Ecuador and India remain generally stable thus far, the insider said.

Global Times