International Trade of Mozambique’s Fish Products
The international market for Mozambique’s fish products is wide, and includes Africa
(Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe), Asia (Hong-Kong and
Japan) and Europe (Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom).
The supply chain for international trade is totally different from that of the local markets. Most of the catch
that is destined for exports is caught by the industrial or semi-industrial fleet, and are either frozen on board
or landed fresh and frozen or processed in land-based processing plants. Most of the catch is exported as
frozen, by freezer containers to Europe or other destinations.
Many of the smaller, unaccredited processing plants ship their products to South Africa, where further
processing is done.
The main export markets in Africa are mainly countries in the Southern Africa Development Community,
(SADC) and Southern Africa Custom Union (SACU). The SADC and SACU markets account for about 40
8
percent of all Mozambican fish exports. South Africa and Zimbabwe reported the highest import volumes of
fish products from Mozambique in 2001. Freshwater small pelagics (Kapenta) from the semi-industrial sector
are export in large volume to Zimbabwe.
Traditional/artisanal processed fish (salt-dried and smoked) is informally exported to neighboring countries
(Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, DRC and Zambia). Fish exports to Tanzania come from Cabo Delgado
province; and the export to Malawi is from Nampula, Zambezia and Beira. Fish exported to Zambia comes
from Tete (Cahora Bassa Dam). Most of the products are traded in dried and smoked form, with the
exception of South Africa, which imports frozen shrimps and fish.
The non- African international markets comprises of the EU which receive about 62% of Mozambique’s fish
exports (by volume), and Asia (12%). High value prawns are the principal export product currently being
exported to the EU (mainly Spain) and Japan. Deep-sea prawns are exported to Italy and South Africa. The
value of fish exports from Mozambique to the international markets was USD 96.6 million in 2006.
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