Egypt’s imports of fish decrease to 250K tons

CAIRO – 6 May 2018: The volume of fish’ imports decreased to 250,000 tons annually from 400,000 tons, Head of Fish Division at Cairo Chamber of Commerce Ahmed Jaafar said.

Jaafar attributed the decline of the imports to the efforts done to control imports over the past two years.

The annual consumption of fish is about 2 million tons, according to the head of Fish Division at Cairo Chamber of Commerce.

Jaafar clarified that the consumption of fish farms' production amounts to 1.5 million tons per year approximately; referring that Egypt is the second biggest producer in the world.

He also added that the consumption of natural seas and lakes’ products are very low, recording 250,000 tons.
Regarding fish consumption in Ramadan, Jaafar said that it usually declines through the first 20 days of the month and returns back to the normal average in the last 10 days.

Concerning the prices, he said that tilapia price ranges from LE 18-21 per kilo, while mullet's price ranges from LE 27-35 per kilo, noting that the prices are stable.

Jaafar attributed the stabilization of prices to the start of production in the farms of Berket Ghalioun in Kafr El Sheikh Governorate.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi inaugurated Berket Ghalioun farm in 2017 to build a huge fish farm on 12,000 feddans, using the latest advanced techniques in the field of fish farming.

The project consists of a hatchery of fish and shrimp on an area of 17 feddans, with a production capacity of 20 million fish and 2 billion shrimp. It also includes 1,359 aquariums and 83 projects of popular Egyptian fish.

It is planned within the project’s framework to build an ice factory on an area of 450 square meters, with a production capacity of 40 tons of crushed ice a day, and 20 tons of ice blocks for freezing fish and shrimp.

A foam factory will also be constructed on an area of 1,200 square meters to produce fish and shrimp containers.

The project will help reduce fish imports by about 27 percent and will provide at least 5,000 jobs for the residents of Kafr El-Sheikh as well as the neighboring governorates.