[Special Stock] Related Shares Surge Amid Concerns Over Chinese Seafood Imports

Cheongnyangni Agricultural and Marine Products Market, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] The stock prices of related companies surged in the stock market on the 20th as China's city lockdown policies due to the spread of COVID-19 disrupted the domestic seafood supply and demand.

As of 10:31 a.m. that day, Shilla SG was trading at 16,300 KRW, up 19.85% from the previous trading day. Other seafood industry stocks such as Dongwon Fisheries(7.51%) and CJ Seafood(3.07%) also showed upward trends.

The news that imports of Chinese seafood have decreased appears to have influenced the stock price increase. According to the Korea Maritime Institute, the total volume of Chinese seafood imported last month was 31,447 tons, down 8% from March of last year. Representative items with reduced imports from China include anglerfish, octopus, webfoot octopus, and pollock. The March import volume of anglerfish was only 3,025 tons, a 39% decrease from 4,964 tons in the same month last year. Octopus imports decreased by 34% from 2,206 tons in March last year to 1,467 tons, webfoot octopus imports dropped 37% to only 467 tons. Pollock imports fell by 51%, from 96 tons in March last year to 47 tons this year.