FishMatch Aquaculture Project Cost & Lead-Time Index — H1 2026
RAS and shrimp equipment price bands and observed lead times by region, built from anonymized aggregates of the requests for quotation we handled between January and June 2026. Published as bands, never as individual quotes — supplier identity stays confidential.
Published 2026-08-20 · Last updated 2026-08-20 · Coverage 1 Jan – 30 Jun 2026 · All figures USD
Short answer
In H1 2026 a 200–500 t/yr RAS process package quoted at roughly USD 3.1M–6.4M in Europe, USD 1.4M–3.2M from Asia and USD 2.2M–5.1M delivered into MENA, with 22–48 weeks to delivery. Shrimp pond equipment stayed commodity-priced — 2 HP paddlewheel aerators at USD 210–460 FOB Asia, rising to USD 520–950 delivered into Sub-Saharan Africa — while intensive raceway packages ran USD 260,000–1.15M. The binding constraint in the period was production slot availability, not unit price.
RAS equipment: price bands and lead times
| Line item | Unit | Region | Price band (USD) | Lead time | 6-mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drum filter, 40–60 µm, 200–600 m³/hStainless frames and EU control cabinets carry most of the premium over Asian equivalents. | per unit, FCA | Europe (EU/Nordics) | USD 26,000 – 48,000 | 10 – 16 weeks | |
| Drum filter, 40–60 µm, 200–600 m³/hSpread inside the band is driven by mesh quality, drive motor brand and panel components. | per unit, FOB | Asia (CN/VN/TH/IN) | USD 9,500 – 21,000 | 6 – 12 weeks + 4 – 8 weeks freight | |
| Moving-bed biofilter media (PE), K1/K3 classResin pricing eased through H1; media is rarely the critical path item. | per m³ media | Europe (EU/Nordics) | USD 320 – 520 | 3 – 6 weeks | |
| Moving-bed biofilter media (PE), K1/K3 classVolumetric freight, not unit price, decides landed cost on media orders. | per m³ media | Asia (CN/VN/TH/IN) | USD 180 – 330 | 3 – 5 weeks + freight | |
| Low-head oxygenator / oxygen cone packageBands rose with instrumentation and PSA/LOX interface scope creeping into quotes. | per unit | Europe (EU/Nordics) | USD 14,000 – 38,000 | 8 – 14 weeks | |
| UV disinfection, 300–1,200 m³/hValidated (DVGW/NWRI) units sit in the top third of the band. | per unit | Europe (EU/Nordics) | USD 11,000 – 34,000 | 8 – 12 weeks | |
| Complete RAS process package, 200–500 t/yr grow-outExcludes building, land and grid works; those add roughly 35–60% in most 2026 budgets. | per project | Europe (EU/Nordics) | USD 3.1M – 6.4M | 28 – 44 weeks to delivery | |
| Complete RAS process package, 200–500 t/yr grow-outCommissioning support and spares are the usual gap versus European scope. | per project | Asia (CN/VN/TH/IN) | USD 1.4M – 3.2M | 22 – 36 weeks to delivery | |
| Complete RAS process package, 200–500 t/yr grow-outCooling and desalination interface scope is the main driver above the Asian band. | per project | MENA (SA/AE/EG/MA) | USD 2.2M – 5.1M | 30 – 48 weeks to delivery | |
| Hatchery / nursery RAS module, 5–20 m³/hLive-feed and biosecurity scope moves this band more than water volume does. | per module | Europe (EU/Nordics) | USD 120,000 – 340,000 | 14 – 24 weeks |
Shrimp equipment: price bands and lead times
| Line item | Unit | Region | Price band (USD) | Lead time | 6-mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paddlewheel aerator, 2 HP, long-armGearbox and float quality explain almost the whole spread; motor efficiency class matters for OPEX. | per unit, FOB | Asia (CN/VN/TH/IN) | USD 210 – 460 | 3 – 6 weeks + freight | |
| Paddlewheel aerator, 2 HP, long-armRegional assembly plus duty; Ecuadorian buyers increasingly split orders local/import. | per unit, delivered | LatAm (EC/BR/MX/CL) | USD 380 – 720 | 4 – 9 weeks | |
| Paddlewheel aerator, 2 HP, long-armInland haulage and clearance dominate landed cost; consolidate to one FCL where possible. | per unit, delivered | Sub-Saharan Africa | USD 520 – 950 | 8 – 16 weeks | |
| HDPE pond liner, 0.75–1.0 mm, installedWelding supervision and anchor trench detailing are the quality variables, not sheet price. | per m² | Asia (CN/VN/TH/IN) | USD 2.20 – 4.10 | 4 – 8 weeks | |
| HDPE pond liner, 0.75–1.0 mm, installedInstalled rates vary with soil prep more than with material origin. | per m² | LatAm (EC/BR/MX/CL) | USD 3.10 – 5.80 | 5 – 10 weeks | |
| HDPE pond liner, 0.75–1.0 mm, installedCertified welding crews are scarce; budget mobilisation separately. | per m² | Sub-Saharan Africa | USD 4.20 – 7.60 | 8 – 18 weeks | |
| Automatic acoustic / demand feederCompetition widened at the acoustic end; FCR gains only materialise with feeding-protocol training. | per unit | Asia (CN/VN/TH/IN) | USD 480 – 1,450 | 4 – 8 weeks | |
| Automatic acoustic / demand feederBundled telemetry and service contracts push quotes to the top of the band. | per unit | LatAm (EC/BR/MX/CL) | USD 900 – 2,300 | 6 – 12 weeks | |
| Biofloc / intensive raceway package, 1–3 ha equivalentAeration density and backup power decide where a project lands in the band. | per project | LatAm (EC/BR/MX/CL) | USD 420,000 – 1.15M | 18 – 30 weeks | |
| Biofloc / intensive raceway package, 1–3 ha equivalentLocal fabrication of tanks and covers is the largest single saving. | per project | Asia (CN/VN/TH/IN) | USD 260,000 – 780,000 | 14 – 26 weeks | |
| Post-larvae hatchery package, 100–300M PL/yrBiosecurity, live-feed and broodstock rooms carry the cost, not the tank farm. | per project | Asia (CN/VN/TH/IN) | USD 650,000 – 1.9M | 24 – 40 weeks | |
| Post-larvae hatchery package, 100–300M PL/yrSeawater intake and temperature control add scope not present in tropical baselines. | per project | MENA (SA/AE/EG/MA) | USD 900,000 – 2.6M | 30 – 48 weeks |
Bands are planning estimates for budgeting, lender models and quote sanity-checking — not offers. Quote validity in the period was typically 7–30 days.
Where the weeks actually go
| Programme stage | Typical H1 2026 | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Specification to comparable quotes | 2 – 5 days | Structured RFQ against matched, pre-qualified manufacturers. |
| Quote to technical alignment | 2 – 5 weeks | Longest where P&IDs, oxygen budgets or civil interfaces are undefined. |
| Order to production slot | 2 – 8 weeks | Slot scarcity, not build time, is the usual H1 2026 constraint on RAS packages. |
| Production to ex-works | 6 – 24 weeks | Process packages sit at the top; commodity pond equipment at the bottom. |
| Ex-works to site | 3 – 12 weeks | Africa and inland LatAm sites carry the widest variance. |
| Installation to commissioning | 4 – 16 weeks | Biofilter maturation adds 4 – 8 weeks before first stocking in RAS. |
What the H1 2026 data shows
Production slots, not prices, moved most in H1 2026
Across RAS process-package RFQs, the widest change versus the prior six months was in delivery, not price: quoted delivery for a 200–500 t/yr package drifted toward the upper end of 28–44 weeks in Europe. Buyers who fixed a slot before finalising layout consistently saw shorter total programmes than buyers who finalised drawings first.
The Europe–Asia gap is a scope gap as much as a price gap
European RAS packages quote roughly 1.8–2.3× the Asian band for comparable capacity, but a like-for-like read requires normalising commissioning weeks, spares kits, control-system openness and warranty travel. Once those are priced into the Asian quote, the gap typically narrows to about 1.3–1.6×.
Landed cost dominates in Africa and inland LatAm
For pond and shrimp equipment shipped to Sub-Saharan Africa, freight, duty and inland haulage add roughly 35–70% over FOB Asia. Consolidating a full container across aeration, liners and feeders was the single most effective cost action seen in the period.
Quote validity has shortened
Steel, resin and freight exposure pushed typical validity toward 7–30 days on equipment quotes. Budgets built on quotes older than a quarter should be re-based before they go to a lender.
Methodology and confidentiality
- Source: requests for quotation handled through FishMatch Group between 1 January and 30 June 2026, covering recirculating aquaculture (RAS) and shrimp production equipment across Europe, Asia, Latin America, MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Anonymisation: figures are published only as bands across multiple independent quoting parties per line and region. Any line with too few quoting parties to anonymise safely is excluded from this edition rather than published. No supplier, buyer, project or country-level counterparty is identifiable.
- Normalisation: quotes are normalised to the stated unit and Incoterm before banding. Where a quote bundled installation, commissioning or spares, the bundled scope is separated and noted rather than averaged in.
- Currency: all figures in USD. Non-USD quotes are converted at the mid-market rate on the quote date, not on the publication date.
- Intended use: early-stage budgeting, lender and board planning models, and sanity-checking a received quote. These are planning bands, not offers, and they do not constitute financial advice.
Citation: FishMatch Aquaculture Project Cost & Lead-Time Index, H1 2026 edition, FishMatch Group, 2026-08-20. Reuse with attribution and a link to this page is welcome.