The price of Alaska pollock surimi from North America, the main material for Japanese fish-paste products, has reached a 10-year high.
Japanese buyers are paying JPY 580 to JPY 600 (USD 5.37 to USD 5.55, EUR 4.80 to EUR 4.96) per kilo for the benchmark FA-grade frozen-at-sea ingredient. This is 10 percent higher than at the same time last year, and 20 percent higher than two years ago.
The last time Alaska pollock was priced this high, in 2008 and 2009, it was because of a low total allowable catch (TAC) in Alaska, due to declining stocks. This time, production in Alaska is stable. The cause of the current price increase is strong demand in Europe and China. Chinese importers continued to buy U.S. surimi even after the country imposed a tit-for-tat 25 percent import duty on American surimi last year.
In 2008 and 2009, Japanese buyers were able to deal with the shortage by increasing purchases of tropical surimi, such as that from golden threadfin bream (known as itoyori in Japan). However, this time, tropical surimi resources are already fully exploited. Thus, it looks like Alaska pollock prices will continue to rise.
Surimi is used to make “kamaboko” (imitation crab legs), “chikuwa” (roasted fish-paste tubes), and fish balls for “oden” and “;” (hotpot dishes). Manufacturers of these products are in a bind – they already raised their prices this spring, and now, they may have to raise them again this fall. They are hesitant to do so, because a hike in the Japanese sales tax from 8 to 10 percent is also scheduled to take effect starting in October. The combined price hike may be enough to discourage some buyers, and demand may fall.
According to the Nippon Keizai Shimbun, manufacturers in Niigata Prefecture, the leading prefecture for fishcake production, suppliers are trying to deal with the higher material costs by increasing fish-paste products made from other materials, such as sardines. However, these lack the light fluffy character of fishcakes, and are rather nutty with a rougher texture. The color is grayish in contrast to the clean white color of pollock fishcakes.
They are also trying to streamline production by concentrating on fewer products to maintain profit margins.
