Zhanjiang Shrimp Processing Factory Guide: Sinking into China's Whiteleg Shrimp Export Base
Zhanjiang processes 300,000+ tonnes of shrimp a year — home to Guolian, Hengxing and Haid. This guide covers HACCP, BAP, EU establishment numbers, and the 8 parameters to ask for when pricing a frozen container.
Zhanjiang is China's largest whiteleg-shrimp farming and processing base. Xuwen, Leizhou, Mazhang and Suixi together farm 30,000+ hectares; 100+ processing plants, 30+ registered for the EU. Annual frozen-shrimp exports exceed 100,000 tonnes, mainly to the US, Japan, Korea, EU and Southeast Asia.
The 4 registration numbers to ask for
Ask for: HACCP certificate number, EU seafood establishment number (format DL-xxxx), US FDA registration number, and Korea/Japan registration. All four are verifiable directly with customs and the importing country's authority. Without the EU number, your cargo cannot clear EU ports; without the FDA number, US entry goes through a third party at double cost.
The 8 parameters to ask for when pricing
Species (whiteleg / kuruma), count (21/25, 31/40, 41/50 per lb), processing (HL / PND / CPD), freezing (IQF vs BQF), yield, STPP treatment, packaging (lb/kg, carton dims), certificate of origin (FORM E / FORM A). If any one is vague, the quote is not comparable.
Cold-storage & cold-chain evidence
Ask for 3 months of continuous cold-storage temperature logs (below -18°C) and reefer-container setpoint records at loading. If shrimp warms above -12°C for more than 4 hours in transit, ice crystals re-form and thaw-drip doubles. Many small processors cannot produce this evidence.
First-order advice
Keep the first order to one 40HQ reefer (roughly 10–12 tonnes) and require pre-loading inspection and temperature records. We can coordinate Zhanjiang-based inspectors on a per-container basis.