Info Grafico Breeders Tilapia brasil by regions

Brazil consolidates as the fourth world producer of tilapia and its exports grow 19%

BRAZIL
Wednesday, February 19, 2020, 06:00 (GMT + 9)

With a production of 432 149 tons, tilapia accounted for 57% of all Brazilian farmed fish production in 2019

The Brazilian fish farming industry maintained its growth path in 2019. Production increased by 4.9% and reached 758 006 tons, according to data are from the 2020 Peixe BR Yearbook of Pisciculture.

Brazil reinforces its position as the fourth largest producer of tilapia in the world. The species, by the way, already represents 57% of the national production. Native fish remain strong, with 38%, and the other species participate with 5%.

“It can be said that the result is positive, but it could have been better. The great supply of tilapia in the second half of 2018 and the first of 2019 led producers to reduce stocking, which caused a shortage of the product in the second half of last year, ” said Francisco Medeiros, executive president of the Brazilian Fish Farming Association (Peixe BR), responsible for the Yearbook.

In the last six years (Peixe BR study period), the production of farmed fish increased by 31% in the country: from 578 800 t (2014) to 758 006 t (2019).

Tilapia grows -  with a production of 432 149 t, tilapia represented 57% of Brazil’s total farmed fish production in 2019. In the previous year the species accounted for 54.1%. The result of 2019 was 7.96% higher than that of 2018, which demonstrates the national preference for the species. The tilapia is farmed in all states, except in Amazonas, Rondônia and Roraima. With this result, Brazil is consolidated in the fourth position among the largest producers of tilapia in the world.

Stable native fish production: Peixe BR's study identified stability in the production of native fish in 2019, with an increase of only 20 tons, reaching 287,930 t. "From the point of view of production and supply of native fish, the result is positive, since it reversed the downward trend observed in previous years," says Medeiros.

Between 2018 and 2017, the national production of native fish, led by the tambaqui, decreased 4.7%. With the result of 2019, native fish now represent 38% of total production, decreasing almost two percentage points compared to 39.84% in the previous year.

Other species progress: other species of farmed fish (led by carp, trout and pangasius) represented a pleasant surprise in the performance of Brazilian fish farming sector in 2019. The study conducted by the Brazilian Fish Framing Association shows that the supply of these species (still small) jumped 8.72%, from 34 370 t to 37 927 t.

As a result, the share of total production increased from 4.6% to 5%. The reasons for the increase in the production of these species include the presence of pangasius in the southeastern states (mainly in São Paulo) and the northeast regions, in addition to the increase of carp and trout in the southern region.

Exports grow 26% in 2019

Fish farming is the second most important segment of fish exports in Brazil, representing almost USD 12 million (4% of the total) in 2019. Total fish exports amounted to USD 275 million last year.

The positive point is that the exports of the fish farming industry (and its by-products) have been growing and registered an increase of 26% in 2019 compared to the previous year, going from 5185 to 6543 tons. Between 2015 and 2019, Brazilian farmed fish exports grew by 833%, from 701 to 6143 tonnes.

Tilapia is consolidated as the flagship of fish farming exports (5322 t), with a 19% increase in the volume exported in 2019.

Source: Notícias Agricolas (read the full article here - in Portuguese)

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