Revealed Market Advantage Analysis – China

Revealed market advantage

China's imports from Canada: 2015 to 2019

China imported Can$14.3 billion worth of processed food and beverage products from Canada from 2015 to 2019. The top five products accounted for 59.6% of China's processed food and beverage imports from Canada.

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• Canola Oil: 28.2%
• Oilcake and other solid residues: 141.8%
• Offal of swine, frozen: 7.1%
• Frozen cold-water shrimps and prawns: 6.3%
• Frozen pork: 6.2%
• Other: 40.4%

Source: Global Trade Tracker, as of August 7, 2020

This analysis looks at China's top-five processed food and beverage products imported from Canada and identifies alternate markets in the world for these products. China's top-five processed food and beverages imported from Canada, from 2015 to 2019, were: canola oil (HS: 151411), oilcake and other solid residues (HS: 230641), offal of swine, frozen (HS: 020649), frozen cold-water shrimps and prawns (HS: 030616) and frozen pork (HS: 020329. Trade data was extracted from Global Trade Tracker, including UN Comtrade.

This report identifies alternative global markets of Canadian processed food and beverage products by using the following indicators for Canada's trade diversification efforts:

1. Largest global importers of canola oil, oilcake and other solid residues, offal of swine, frozen, frozen cold-water shrimps and prawns and frozen pork in 2019.
2. Top growth markets for those products from 2018 to 2019.
3. Global markets importing a disproportionately larger share of those products from Canada in 2019.

To identify markets for Canada to diversify its agri-trade in the world, we applied Farm Credit Canada's (FCC) definition of revealed market advantage. This tool is used to identify preferred markets for Canadian processed food and beverage products in 2019 - that is, markets whose imports of canola oil, oilcake and other solid residues, offal of swine, frozen, frozen cold-water shrimps and prawns and frozen pork were greater than expected, compared to the world's imports of those same products from Canada (FCC,2019).

Canola oil

Opportunities for trade diversification of canola oil in the world

In 2019, there were 10 preferred markets where Canadian canola oil had the strongest advantage: Hong Kong, Nicaragua, the United States (U.S) and Singapore reporting RMA's of 2.8 respectively, with Chile, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, China and Taiwan reporting, 2.7, 2.7, 2.0, 1.8, 1.7 and 1.3 respectively. Most notably, our exports have a comparative advantage not only in China but Korea as well, as both were also the world's two largest global importers and top growth markets of canola oil in 2019. The U.S and Chile were also two of the largest global importers while Japan was also one of the top growth markets for canola oil. Other high potential markets for export growth include Russia and Germany as they were not only two of the largest global importers of canola oil but also two of the top growth markets for canola oil in 2019.

Oilcake and other solid residues

Opportunities for trade diversification of oilcake and other solid residues in the world

In 2019, there were 4 preferred markets where Canadian oilcake and other solid residues had the strongest advantage: the US, Korea, China, and Mexico, with the U.S and Korea reporting a RMA of 1.8 and China and Mexico reporting a RMA of 1.7 and 1.0 respectively. Most notably, our exports have a comparative advantage in China as one of the largest global importers and top growth market for oilcake and other solid residues in 2019. The U.S was also one of the largest global importers of oilcake and other solid residues in 2019. Other high potential markets for export growth include France, the United Kingdom, Spain and Germany as they were not only four of the largest global importers but also four of the world's top growth markets for oilcake and other solid residues in 2019.

Offal of swine, frozen

Opportunities for trade diversification of offal of swine, frozen in the world

In 2019, there were 10 preferred markets where Canadian offal of swine, frozen, had the strongest advantage: Jamaica, the U.S, Barbados, Taiwan, Panama, Mexico, Japan, Antigua and Barbuda, Malaysia and China with a RMA of 11.6, 9.8, 7.0, 4.4, 4.2, 2.8, 2.0, 1.5, 1.5, and 1.0 respectively. Most notably, our exports have a comparative advantage not only in China but the U.S as well, as both were also two of the largest global importers and top growth markets for offal of swine, frozen in 2019. Japan, Taiwan and Mexico were also three of the largest global importers of offal of swine, frozen. Other high potential markets for export growth include Vietnam and Côte d'Ivoire as they were not only two of the largest global importers of offal of swine, frozen but also two of the top growth markets for offal of swine, frozen in 2019.

Frozen cold-water shrimps and prawns

Opportunities for trade diversification of frozen cold-water shrimps and prawns in the world

In 2019, they were 10 preferred markets where Canadian frozen cold-water shrimps and prawns, had the strongest advantage: Serbia, Ukraine, Indonesia, Korea, China, Albania, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Japan and Morocco with RMA's of 3.0, 2.7, 2.3, 2.0, 1.9, 1.7, 1.7, 1.6, 1.6 and 1.6 respectively. Most notably, our exports have a comparative advantage in Morocco, Albania and China, which were also three of the largest global importers and top growth markets for frozen cold-water shrimps and prawns in 2019. Japan was also one of the largest global importer of frozen cold-water shrimps and prawns while Ukraine was also one of the top growth markets for frozen cold-water shrimps and prawns. Other high potential markets for export growth include Denmark as not only one of the largest global importer but also one of the top growth markets for frozen cold-water shrimps and prawns in 2019.

Frozen pork

Opportunities for trade diversification of frozen pork in the world

In 2019, they were 10 preferred markets where Canadian frozen pork, had the strongest advantage: Jamaica, Mauritius, Barbados, Philippines, Taiwan, Puerto Rico, the U.S, Mexico, North Macedonia and New Zealand with a RMA of 15.8, 8.3, 6.7, 6.2, 5.6, 5.0, 2.9, 2.8, 2.8 and 2.7 respectively. Most notably, our exports have a comparative advantage in Mexico and the U.S, which were also two of the largest global importers of frozen pork in 2019. Other high potential markets for export growth include China, Chile, Australia and Romania as they were not only four of the largest global importers but also four of top growth markets for frozen pork in 2019.

For more information

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For additional information on Food & Hotel China, 2020, please contact:

Ben Berry, Deputy Director
Trade Show Strategy and Delivery
Agriculture and agri-food Canada
ben.berry@canada.ca

More on Canada's agriculture and agri-food sectors:

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Revealed Market Advantage Analysis – China
Global Analysis Report

Prepared by: Laurie Bernardi, International Market Research Analyst

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food (2021).

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