Mexico And Australia Fight For Chinese Market Share

One of the main reasons that some tuna farmers in Australia feel they haven’t strongly broken into the Chinese market just yet is due to competition from Mexico.

Plans to bring more local seafood into international markets took a step forward recently, when state opposition investment and trade spokesperson, Tim Whetstone, visited Eyre Peninsula and met with a range of producers.

According to Dinko Tuna Farmers Director, Michael van Doorn, not only was the language and culture barrier with China having an impact, but Mexican competition in the Asian nation was holding them back.

For years, the company has towed wild southern bluefin tuna to Boston Bay, farming them in pens and fattening them for the lucrative Japanese market. The firm’s founder, Dinko Lukin, is said to be the man who pioneered tuna farming in Port Lincoln.

Whetstone explained that the federal government’s Austrade Commission was “driven by politics” and “power of membership”, which meant that South Australian exporters have struggled to find a way to get to overseas markets. “It’s about getting the beautiful, pristine tuna in front of the right person,” he said.

Dinko Tuna Farmers Managing Director, Lukina Lukin, notes that the firm has been reliant on the Japanese market for many years, but was gaining more support from politicians to invest into other countries. She said: “It’s good to look at not only China, but any other option as well. If we never start, we’ll never know.”

For four consecutive years, global farmed bluefin tuna supply is expected to keep on increasing, according to Japanese news sources. While farming in Australia is expected to rise, output from Mexico is predicted to see significant declines.