3 Nov 2020
- Bivalve trade has been severely affected by COVID-19, but while lower priced species are recovering in the second half of the year, oysters are still severely impacted.
- Producers have started to grow bivalves for longer periods and are thus not restocking their aquaculture areas. Compared to other aquaculture producers, bivalve growers do not need to feed their brood, so the product can remain in the water in order to wait for a market recovery
- The global domestic product (GDP) in Southern Europe declined by two digits in the first half of the year, and demand for bivalves suffered from this.
- The tourist season in summer months was depressed, but home consumption made up for some of the decline in demand.
- Oysters were the worst hit by COVID-19, as they are directly related to the restaurant trade ,which shut down in many countries during the first half of 2020. During this period, world trade of oysters shrunk by 20 percent. The Republic of Korea, less impacted by COVID-19, became the top importing country of oysters, overtaking Spain, which reported a 20 percent decline in imports. Italy was even worse off, reducing imports by 27 percent. Despite this limited demand, prices declined also sharply.
- The second wave of COVID-19, which is impacting Europe as of this writing, will further decrease demand for live bivalves.