The market continued its quiet trend with high stock levels among most US clients. The lent season, running from late February to the end of March, was expected to help clear some of this stock. The international restaurant business was showing signs of normalization. Market forecasts were optimistic for the second half of the year, anticipating orders around June or July. Factories were exploring the potential of pre-made food products like tilapia and blackhead seabass for both domestic and export markets, primarily targeting local Chinese communities abroad. The expectation for raw materials prices was that they would not be as low as the previous year, averaging around RMB 9.0-9.6/kg.
