Prices for pollock from Russia are up after the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) designated the fishery as sustainable — but what’s good for Russia’s share of the world’s largest fishery is not as good for the Alaska side of the equation.
“People are complaining a lot. I know there was a lot of complaining at the [Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute] meeting in October in Anchorage, a lot of moaning and groaning about the price of roe. Too low. The only thing you’re going to get from processors is moaning when prices are too low,” said an executive from one Seattle-based processor. “Russian prices were up, so the Russians were happy with the prices but the Alaskans were not. The Russians are MSC now, so maybe the prices have all become [equalized] now that the Russians have got MSC.”
Reports out of China at the end of November had prices for H&G Russia pollock at over USD 1,600 (EUR 1,169.24) a metric ton (MT), about USD 200 (EUR 146.14) more than in November 2012. “That was one of the things we were wondering about as soon as the Russians got MSC...that was one of the fears, that it would cause prices for the two to [equalize] at a rate that was lower than Alaska was getting,” the executive says. “That’s one of the stories about pollock that I think is going to be interesting over the next year or so.”
The CEO of one seafood company with an extensive foodservice component says Russia will keep producing H&G fish until the market corrects itself, and a correction will happen sooner than later. “By the time we get to Boston for the show, I think H&G prices will drop to USD 1,300 (EUR 949.89) or even lower,” he says. “Supply will be strong at that time, while post-Lent demand will be at its low point for the year.”
Prices for single-frozen, PBO Alaska pollock were around USD 2.30 (EUR 1.68) a pound in early December, while prices for twice-frozen pollock was about USD 1 (EUR 0.73) less than that. Single-frozen blocks of Alaska pollock were in the mid-USD 1 range, about USD 0.20 (EUR 0.15) a pound more than double-frozen blocks.
The CEO said Alaska is going to have to pick its poison in 2014.
“Do they overproduce surimi or pinbone-out block? Either way, I think they have a big problem on their hands,” he said “The weakness of the yen, along with strong inventories, have depressed prices for surimi. On the fillet-block side of things, things aren’t much better with the Russian product now available to those requiring MSC [certification]. Consumption is pretty much flat if not down, so in the end, I see too much inventory available and just not enough demand to keep pace with it.”
PBO pricing out of A season should come down to around USD 1.40 (EUR 1.02) per pound, with mince prices down to around USD 0.70 (EUR 0.51), he said.
The head of one East Coast seafood supplier said Alaska pollock has lost some of the luster it had a few years ago, as other alternatives have emerged for sellers and buyers.
“With the Alaska pollock you can have two different markets, one of which is the more-upscale market where the fish is used in a cod-like application; the other one is the market where it’s used as the cheap whitefish on the table market. When it comes to the cheaper market, there are just so many more options that have been created lately, including swai,” the CEO said. “It’s a changed world from where it was a couple of years ago where the market was so dependent on those wild fisheries for those applications.”
The quota for the coming Alaska pollock season will remain steady at around 3 million MT, while the total allowable catch for the Russian portion of the fishery was set at 1.63 million MT.
