Australian lobster sector focus on local sales after Chinese ban

Australian authorities recently amended legislation to allow commercial rock lobster fishers to sell large quantities from the back of their boats during December and January after China imposed a near-total import ban.

So far the Australian public has responded enthusiastically, offering a much-needed lifeline to Camarda and his fellow vendors.

On a pre-Christmas weekday, the world-renowned western rock lobster was sold directly on the quay for $34 a kilogram — a 36 percent markdown.

But demand across Australia is high that some supermarkets placed limits on the number of lobsters customers can buy.

Australia’s rock lobster exports were worth half a billion US dollars annually, with 94 percent usually going to China.

But a few weeks ago, China imposed a near-total import ban on lobster as part of a politically charged “shadow trade war.”

China has been raising a list of issues including Australia’s call for an inquiry into the COVID-19 origins, and a ban of Huawei’s in the nation’s 5G network.

So far, the Australian economy has returned to growth in the last quarter, exiting a COVID-induced recession.

But individual businesses have been forced to find new customers as a dozen Australian sectors hit with import levies, with the barley industry particularly badly hit. Exporters stand to lose as much as $2-4 billion worth of sales.

Some barley farmers have planted other grains or re-routed shipments to the Middle East.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, prices topped $80 a kg in Western Australia and usually averaged around $53 per kilo.