After Honduras established diplomatic relations with China, the white shrimp industry has never been able to wait for the expected "big market in China." Local shrimp farmers have been vocal this year, hoping to reopen the Taiwan market. Just as domestic criticism of Hongguo increased, China's purchase of Hongguo white shrimp suddenly increased significantly in August, with an estimated purchase of approximately 784,000 pounds in a single month. However, the latest data shows that Taiwan’s cumulative purchases in the first eight months of this year still reached 3.309 million pounds, more than 3.5 times that of China.
Honduras' "El Heraldo" quoted the latest monthly report of the National Aquaculture Association of Honduras (ANDAH) on September 11, stating that from January to August this year, the country's farmed shrimp exports reached 44.974950 pounds, an increase of 3.7% over the same period last year; the export value was US$174.5 million, an increase of 7%.
Among them, the EU ranked first with 19.133922 pounds, followed by Mexico with 16.434469 pounds, and Taiwan bought 3.308690 pounds; China only bought 931,429 pounds as of the end of August. Converted, Taiwan's purchasing volume is about 3.55 times that of China.
It is worth noting that China's purchasing volume suddenly changed significantly in August. According to statistics from January to July published on ANDAH's official website, as of the end of July, China had purchased only 147,003 pounds, while Taiwan had purchased 2,991,596 pounds. At that time, Taiwan's purchases were more than 20 times that of China.
But by the end of August, China's cumulative purchases had jumped from 147,000 pounds to 931,000 pounds. Subtracting the previous cumulative figures from July to August, China increased approximately 784,000 pounds in a single month in August, which is equivalent to 5.3 times the cumulative purchase volume in the previous seven months. However, the cumulative total in the first eight months of this year is still far behind Taiwan.
The timing of this wave of purchasing amplification has attracted special attention. In July this year, Melvin Redondo, Commissioner of the Foreign Trade Office of the Presidential Palace of Honduras, publicly stated that Hong Kong will no longer continue to negotiate a free trade agreement (FTA) with China, and pointed out that there is a huge asymmetry in bilateral trade. When asked at that time whether to resume relations with Taiwan, he said that he would make a decision based on the assessment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and national interests.
On August 5, the Honduras Congress established a special committee to deal with the crisis in the white shrimp industry. Congressional officials pointed out that the previous government's severance of diplomatic relations with Taiwan caused Hong Kong to lose its important white shrimp market and resulted in the loss of more than 10,000 job opportunities. On August 8, Yader Rodríguez, the shrimp industry leader in southern Honduras, once again publicly stated that resuming trade with Taiwan is "the best thing that could happen to us." He also said that after losing the Taiwanese market, the price of white shrimp has fallen, and more than 100 small shrimp companies have closed down.
Nowadays, China's purchasing volume suddenly increased in August, which is in sharp contrast with the previous seven months. It is difficult to determine whether there is a direct relationship with political and economic and trade changes. What is certain is that even if China suddenly increased purchases in August, it still lags behind Taiwan's import volume. Taiwan's importance in the Asian market of Honduras white shrimp is still much higher than that of China.
