China Tilapia Industry Week 49: Low Prices Persist as Supply Shows Early Tightening

In the 49th week of 2025, the Chinese tilapia industry continued its sluggish trend. Raw material prices in the main producing areas in southern China hovered at their lowest levels of the year, and factories remained focused on clearing inventory.  Meanwhile, the US wholesale market ‘s prices still decline due to weak demand and falling costs, putting significant pressure on the overall market.

In China's main tilapia producing regions, the market continued to be characterized by oversupply and weak demand.

In week 49, the pond-side price of tilapia weighing 500-800 grams in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan provinces remained unchanged at 7.0 RMB per kilogram.  It continued to operate within the lowest price range since 2025. According to industry sources, the core of the current price stalemate lies in the downstream processing sector. Processors are generally prioritizing the depletion of existing finished product inventory, and their willingness to actively purchase new raw fish is extremely weak, thus failing to provide effective support for pond-side prices.  The market consensus is that until processing plant inventories are significantly reduced.

Despite the low prices, there are already early signs of tightening in the supply side.

The supply of raw tilapia in Hainan has begun to decline, and in Guangdong, the largest production area, the supply is also expected to decrease around the end of the year. This seasonal change prompts the industrial chain to look towards the distant future. Some processing plants have already started to formulate production plans for the Spring Festival (February 17th) in 2026. A processing enterprise manager stated that the tightening of raw material supply in Hainan is a certain event, but the greater uncertainty lies in overseas orders, especially the purchasing rhythm of American buyers before the Spring Festival, which will directly affect the factory's order situation and raw material demand.

Reference : FOODSPATH