SA lobster exporter to tread carefully after ‘devastating’ China ban lift
With Australian lobster finally back on the menu in China later this year, one local exporter is taking a careful approach to re-entering the post-tariffs market.
China accounted for nearly all of one South Australian lobster exporter’s sales before punitive tariffs were introduced in 2020.
Now, third-generation seafood supplier Ferguson Australia, which sells wild Southern Rock Lobster caught off the coast of South Australia, is set to benefit from a deal struck between China and Australia to lift the export ban.
Announced yesterday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese Premier Li agreed the embargo would be lifted by the end of 2024.
A ban on Australian live lobster was one of the last trade impediments following a years-long trade war between the two nations that commenced in 2020.
Earlier this year, punitive tariffs on Australian wine were lifted which instantly buoyed the state’s wine industry. New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows South Australian wine exports to China have reached $395 million since tariffs were removed five months ago.
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With the major trade route soon to reopen, Ferguson Australia managing director Andrew Ferguson, son of company founder Robert Ferguson, welcomed the development.
When tariffs were introduced, Ferguson said the impact was “devastating”, as China represented 98 per cent of all lobster sales for the company.
“The impact was devastating. When you rely on one market so much, and have it pulled from under you, it’s daunting,” he told InDaily.
“But in saying that, we were able to pick things up. The Christmas that year was fairly big – we were able to get some good sales going through supermarkets locally that never had sold lobster.
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“Lobster was a bit cheaper, probably half the price of what consumers were paying in previous years, and that sort of got things off to a good start.”
But post-Christmas Ferguson Australia had to change tact and re-think its retail approach in Australia, developing new products like lobster halves for supermarket distribution.
“Now we’re looking at keeping that marketplace open,” he said.
“I’m definitely not moving back to where we were of being totally reliant on one market.
“We will keep the diversity as much as we can and try to service both markets.”
The managing director said his company’s approach will be similar to how South Australian winemakers have dealt with the reopening of the Chinese market: cautiously.
“I talked to a few wine people and what they’ve gone through, we’ve gone through the same thing,” he said.
“We’ll be taking a cautious approach. We’ll be utilising the opportunity but we’ll be cautious about it.”
But it’s a “long way back” he said, and there’s still “work to rekindle the market” to be done.
“There’s no guarantees,” he said.
“I think there’s a lot of hard work to be done. Four years is a long time. We’ll just face that as we go.”
