Research Centre PMCG reports, that exports of fish body oil from Georgia have increased by 85% since 2015, and fish meal- by 58%.
According to the report, the average export price for fish meal fluctuated between USD 1.3/kg and USD 1.6/kg over 2015-2021, while for fish body oils the corresponding range was USD 1.5/kg to USD 1.9/kg. The price of fish meal reported a negligible decline (with a negative CAGR of 1.9%), while the price of fish body oils, on average, increased throughout the 2015-2021 period (with a CAGR of 2.9%). The price of fish body oils rose steadily, peaking at USD 1.9/kg in 2018, followed by a significant 13.1% YoY drop in 2019 and relative stabilization during 2020-2021. It must also be noted that the increased price of fish body oils did not impact negatively on the volume of exports.
PMCG reports that part of this increase in 2020 could be attributed to the Enterprise Georgia (EG) program designed to stimulate the marine fishing sector.
Among partner countries, the largest recipient of fish meal exports from Georgia is Turkey. In particular, throughout the 2015- 2021 period, Turkey’s share reached 63.7% of total exports. Turkey was followed by Armenia with 14.1% of total exports, and then Taiwan (12%) and Vietnam (4.8%). The share of EU countries (Greece and Italy) in total amounted to just 1.7% of fish meal exports over this period. Similar to the situation for fish meal, the top export destination for Georgian fish body oils was Turkey with 67% of total exports for the 2015-2021 period, followed by Peru (28%) and Canada (3%).
It must also be noted that in 2017, the EU included Georgia in a list of 3rd countries permitted to export fish products to the EU market, which represents a major development and opportunity for the sector.
