Tilapia purchase prices rise for two consecutive weeks, processing plant price climbs to 3.9 yuan/jin!

On September 17, the Hainan Tilapia Brand Building Promotion Association released its 295th purchase price information: this week's Hainan processing plant price is 3.9 yuan/jin, up another 0.1 yuan from last week's 3.8 yuan/jin. This price information is released once a week, covering two categories—processing plant delivered prices and pond-side purchase prices—broken down by two size grades: 500 g (inclusive) and above, and 300–500 g. This is the second price adjustment since September—the processing plant delivered price (500 g and above/fish) held flat at 3.7 yuan/jin for three consecutive weeks from August 24 to September 7, was raised to 3.8 yuan/jin on September 11, and rose to 3.9 yuan/jin on September 17, a cumulative increase of 0.2 yuan/jin over two weeks, a clear upward trend.

The pond side rose in tandem. The pond-side purchase price for the 500 g and above grade rose from 3.5 yuan/jin on August 24 to 3.7 yuan/jin on September 17, also a cumulative increase of 0.2 yuan; from late August to early September, pond-side quotes held steady just like processing plant quotes, with both rounds of adjustment occurring after September 11. Small sizes also moved higher: the processing plant delivered price for the 300–500 g grade rose from 2.7 yuan/jin to 2.9 yuan/jin, and the pond-side purchase price from 2.5 yuan/jin to 2.7 yuan/jin. A price gap of 1.0–1.2 yuan/jin is maintained between large and small sizes, with processing plants' competition for on-spec fish more evident.

In regional comparison, Hainan fish prices remain below Guangdong. This week Guangdong processing plant prices are 4.1–4.2 yuan/jin, versus 4.2 yuan/jin last week, basically flat at a high level; the price gap between Hainan and Guangdong is about 0.2–0.3 yuan/jin. Since late August, Hainan has embarked on a clear upward run while Guangdong quotes have remained stable within a range, showing a divergence in price trends between the two major producing regions.

The background to the purchase price increases is the strong performance of tilapia exports. The Frozen Guide 2026 January China Tilapia Export Data Analysis Report shows that in that month China's tilapia exports were dominated by prepared or preserved tilapia (whole or in pieces) and frozen tilapia, with the two categories combined accounting for more than 92%, exports being mainly in processed product form, with raw material demand concentrated on on-spec market-size fish. Mexico, Côte d'Ivoire and the United States were the top three export destinations, with Côte d'Ivoire's single-month export volume at 11,551 tonnes, accounting for 20.47% of total exports, and African countries taking six of the top ten destinations. Hainan, Guangdong and Fujian are China's three core tilapia export provinces, together accounting for more than 95% of national exports, and processing plant purchase prices directly correspond to the raw material costs of export orders.

The pull of the African market on raw materials is already reflected in the export data: in the first eight months of 2026, Fujian's exports of frozen tilapia to Africa reached 860 million yuan, nearly half of the province's 1.81 billion yuan in frozen product exports to Africa; over the same period, China's tilapia exports to multiple African countries maintained growth, with raw material demand from processing export orders transmitting through to the pond-side purchase stage.

The association's next price release will test the continuation of this upward run. The two adjustments on September 11 and September 17 were less than a week apart; if processing plant fish prices continue to rise in late September, Hainan will move toward Guangdong's 4.2 yuan/jin level; if the pond-side quote of 3.7 yuan/jin stabilizes here, this round of increases may have run its course for the time being.