Seafood exports from Russia's Far East to China have been on a general downward trend since the beginning of 2024, with crab sales rising, according to data from Russian fisheries agency Rosrybolovstvo.

Between January and April this year, Russian seafood exports to China (mainly from the Primorye and Kuril Islands regions) amounted to 303,868 tons, down 4.7% year-on-year. Crab exports were 10,556 tons, up 15.1%.

In 2023, Russian seafood exports totaled 2.56 million tons, up 8.6%, and exports to China totaled 1.21 million tons, about twice as much as in 2022. However, the Russian government has imposed tariffs on the export of some products, leading to a weakening of the Far East's seafood export advantage.

In September 2023, Russian authorities implemented new export tariffs applicable to fish and crustaceans, mollusks and other aquatic invertebrates. The new duty is pegged to the ruble-dollar exchange rate and adjusted monthly as needed until the end of 2024. Last month, Russia's Ministry of Economic Development announced that the export tariff applicable to seafood for the period May 1-31, 2024 was set at 5.5%.

In addition, the U.S. ban covers raw Russian fish processed in China, and buyers in many countries are moving away from Russian products - in the U.K., for example, retailer Tesco is moving to remove all Russian-produced whitefish from its supply chain.