Chinese scallop prices soar after EU lifts import ban
News that the European Union has ended a 19-year ban on imported Chinese scallops buoyed prices by 23% in April.
Chinese imports were originally banned in July 1997 after vibrio parahaemolyticus—a bacterium which causes gastrointestinal infections—was discovered in frozen scallop meat.
However, the Zhangzidao Group of Dalian is currently the only company to have met stringent EU guidelines and can now import to the EU.
China is the world’s largest producer and exporter of scallops via aquaculture, which accounts for 18% of world scallop exports, according to Mintec, a commodities analyst.
The lifting of the ban has resulted in an increase in exports to the EU, thereby limiting supply and leading to an increase in the price of Chinese scallops.
