The international abalone market

Demand for seafood, including abalone, has been increasing over the past few years and is likely to continue to increase into the foreseeable future. China is one of the largest producers and consumers of seafood, including abalone. While, over the past few years, legal abalone fisheries have been decreasing, illegal exploitation has been increasing in several countries. At the same time, farm production of abalone has seen massive increases, especially in China and South Korea. In 2018/2019, total worldwide production of farmed abalone was estimated at more than 188,000 metric tonnes. By 2020, the total supply of abalone available worldwide from all sources (fished, farmed, and illegal) had increased to more than 200,000 mt. Currently estimated at about 7000 mt annually, illegally sourced abalone has a significant effect on the world market. Surprisingly, however, prices for high-quality abalone are still very high, and demand in China still outstrips supply. It is currently unknown what effect increasing world inflation levels will have on the international abalone market.