The main tropical fish used in surimi is the golden threadfin bream (itoyori). Lizardfish (eso), white croaker (shiroguchi) and hairtail (tachiou) are also used.
Japanese Customs data for itoyori from April shows that the average CIF Japan price was JPY 286 (USD 2.86, EUR 2.07) per kilogram, up 1 percent over March, and 15 percent higher than in April 2013. Japan sourced itoyori and other tropical whitefish from Thailand, India, Indonesia and Myanmar. Vietnam is also a surimi producer, but focuses more on the South Korean and the Russian markets.
Shippers’ export declarations from Indian ports in June give a snapshot of June pricing. Frozen A-grade itoyori (Nemipterus virgatus) blocks are running between JPY 289 (USD 2.83, EUR 2.08) and JPY 313 (USD 2.06, EUR 2.26) per kg, with most prices around JPY 306 USD 3.06, EUR 2.22). Thus, prices have risen about 7 percent in the last two months.
B-grade eso (Saurida tumbil) has risen from around JPY 174/kg (USD 1.74, EUR 1.28) in April to JPY 186 (USD 1.86, EUR 1.37) in June. Indian Marine Stewardship Council-certified B-grade tachiou (Lepturacanthus savala) is now mostly between JPY 173 and 179 per kg (USD 1.73-1.79, EUR 1.25-1.30) and shiroguchi (Pennahia argentata) is at a similar level.
More surimi is being consumed locally in Southeast Asia, with sales of processed fish-paste products rising about 19 percent per year in the region from 2012 to 2013. In Thailand, shrimp processors lacking material due to early mortality syndrome (EMS) in whiteleg shrimp have been adding surimi-processing capability.
Customs data showed that Japan’s total surimi imports in April were 22,127 metric tons (MT), valued at just over JPY 6 billion (USD 58.7 million, EUR 43.3 million). This is a rise of 23 percent in volume and 38 percent in value over the same month in 2013.
Demand is expected to remain strong, but rising material costs are forcing fish-paste product makers to increase prices to consumers an estimated 15 percent. Though price hikes have been difficult to pass on to retailers and consumers in the past amid a tough economy, shoppers are getting used to paying more for food, coinciding with the increase in the consumption tax rate from 5 to 8 percent. In addition to the usual range of products, crab-leg analog products with more natural shapes and scallop analogs are being promoted as salad toppings with good reception.
Alaska pollock surimi from the United States in April amounted to 19,213 MT at an average price of JPY 274 (USD 2.74, EUR 1.98) per kg.
The Alaska pollock A season ended in March and B season began 10 June. The major product forms are surimi blocks and single-frozen pin-bone-out (PBO) fillets.
U.S. processors have increased PBO production focus more on the Asian market and take advantage of an itoyori shortage that they hope will give them more leverage with buyers, and to take advantage of a free-trade agreement with South Korea that has given the U.S. an advantage there.
Processors also reduced the ratio of PBO to cut exposure to Ukraine, which was a substantial importer. There is also an expectation that Russia’s acquisition in September of MSC certification for Sea of Okhotsk pollock will end the premium Alaska has long enjoyed for being the only certified pollock source. The certification is an important selling point in the European Union.
The PBO market is unstable while it adjusts to the influx of Russian MSC-certified product. Single-frozen U.S. product sometimes commands a premium of 40 percent over double-frozen Chinese product, but this greatly narrowed in the spring for MSC product. However, Chinese processors were recently clearing inventory of double-frozen MSC Russian pollock at discounts, despite a lower quota and higher prices for the H&G Russian materials, confounding U.S. processors’ attempts to raise prices.
In addition to Alaska pollock, Pacific whiting, New Zealand hoki and Argentine hake and are important sources of whitefish fillets and surimi.
The Ukraine has been a good market for Pacific whiting in the past, but producers are writing it off this year. European surimi buyers use whiting to replace pollock in crab-leg analogs. Japan has not traditionally favored whiting for surimi, but the current itoyori shortage is leading to increased interest. The Pacific whiting (Merluccius productus) fishery off Washington, Oregon, California and British Columbia has been MSC-certified (as has the New Zealand hoki fishery), but processors have limited surimi processing capability, so some may not be able to shift their ratios easily.
