Tilapia, on a live weight basis, is now the third largest imported aquaculture product entering the United States (US) after farm-raised shrimp and Atlantic salmon.
For all practical purposes, the importation of farm-raised tilapia into the United States (US) began on a commercial scale in 1992. Prior to this time, there was very little flow of imported tilapia into the US. Since 1993, the growth of the industry has skyrocketed, both in terms of volume and the corresponding value of the imports. When comparing imports arriving in the US in 1993 to 1994, a dramatic 51% increase in imports was observed . During this period, whole frozen fish imports increased 10%, fresh fillets increased 50% and frozen fillets increased nearly 400%! In 1994, all categories of tilapia imports rose, with about half of the increase coming from frozen fillets, which rose another 280% from 1993 levels. By 1994, Taiwan had gained controlling interest over the frozen fillet market, accounting for 66% of all frozen fillets entering the US.
Starting in 1995, a new trend was emerging. While the total volume of tilapia entering the US actually declined by 9%, the reported value of the product was up 25%. Higher quality fresh and frozen fillets were now contributing a larger percentage to total imports. Fresh fillets were up 85% in quantity from the prior year. Frozen fillets were down in quantity but up in value, signifying the US consumers demand for quality tilapia fillets. Indonesian operations were making great strides to capture this consumer preference with a superior quality frozen fillet product and were obviously succeeding.
Over the first half of 1996, total tilapia imports rose by 23% compared with the same period during 1995. Most of the increase was due to higher imports from Ecuador and Taiwan. Showing a consistent pattern over the last two years, the value of tilapia imports continued to outpace imported volume growth. A new trend was the emergence of Ecuador as a major supplier, which now ranked third in total imports to the US. Taiwan and Costa Rica continued to hold the number one and two positions respectively, with Taiwan supplying primarily frozen whole fish and frozen fillets while Costa Rica was focusing on fresh fillets.
While total import volume increased, the volume of frozen fillets declined by 23% in the first half of 1996. Even with this significant decline in the volume of frozen fillets, the value increased once again. The average price was up nearly 50%! By years end, the frozen fillet market was now evenly divided between Thailand, Indonesia, and Taiwan, each of which had a 26% to 30% share of the market. Indonesia had increased its US imports of frozen fillets by 30% and gained a significant amount of market share over the course of the year.
During the first quarter of 1997, Costa Rica continued to supply the majority of the imported fresh fillets coming into the US. Ecuador also continued to gain in prominence as new farms started coming on-line with their production. Due to the failure of its largest importer of fresh fillets and extremely strong domestic demand, Colombia has essentially no imports of fresh fillets in 1997, marking the final collapse of Colapia.
Source: National Marine Fisheries Service Reports
Currently, the leading suppliers of tilapia to the US are Taiwan, Costa Rica, Thailand, Indonesia and Ecuador.
The demand for tilapia will continue to expand throughout the remainder of the 1990's as consumers become more and more people become familiar with the great qualities of this farm-raised fish. Producers will increasingly recognize that high quality tilapia fillets are the product US consumers are demanding.
New producers, like those from Ecuador, will begin producing more product in an effort to meet this growing demand. Ecuador's well established infrastructure associated with its shrimp farming industry will allow it to advance more rapidly than other countries over the next several years. Other Latin American farms will begin producing, but the growth in these countries will be slower.
In the face of growing competition for the US market between many farms throughout Central and South America, it is likely that only the largest and most cost effective producers will prosper in the long term. Vertical integration is expected to become increasingly more important and in fact necessary for survival. These economies of scale will eventually play an increasingly more critical role as volumes of imported tilapia continue to rise and price pressure is exerted upon producers.