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Issue link: https://seafoodbusiness.epubxp.com/i/139359
Market Report Salmon report (Continued from page 12) and we've been able to get a nice selection of kings and sockeyes," he says, adding that strong farmed salmon prices have helped keep wild prices high. One trader says prices for Russian sockeye are up 40 percent over 2012 at $3.75 a pound, and that could impact prices for Alaska salmon. Te 2013 Alaska pink salmon season began June 1; ADF&G; forecast a run of 40 million fsh, of which 34 million fsh are available for commercial catch. Te department is predicting a Bristol Bay sockeye salmon run of around 26 million fsh, with between 16 million and 17 million harvestable. — SFB Staff Duties unlikely to impact Gulf shrimp demand Buyers look to Mexico as domestic prices remain high C ountervailing duties imposed on foreign shrimp coming to the United States will raise prices for some farmed product, but not enough to have a demonstrable impact to increase demand for Gulf of Mexico shrimp. Te U.S. Department of Commerce in May announced duties on shrimp coming from Malaysia, China, India and Tailand, but imposed duties so low on shrimp from Ecuador and Indonesia (see News Recap, p. 6) they won't impact imports from those countries. Will the duties have an impact on Gulf shrimp? Not much, says shrimp an executive at a West Coast distributor. "I don't see this wild/ farmed dichotomy as that elastic, in this market. Te exporters will bear the brunt of the countervailing duties," he says. "Te Gulf shrimp is still more expensive, not as well known, and I can't imagine anyone switching from $6 Indian 16/20s to $7.90 Gulf shrimp just because the Indian shrimp went up 30 cents in price." As for supply from Farmed bluefn takes over Tokyo Mexico a leading supplier to the Japanese market A t Tokyo's Tsukiji Market on May 29, fresh domestic bluefn tuna sold at an average price of 1,980 yen for Niigata Prefecture product, a couple notches down from the same period last year. At the start of summer, bluefn tuna migrate north along the Japanese archipelago. Tis year, after a couple of years of reduced fshing efort on the Pacifc Ocean side of the Sanriku coast (Honshu Island) following the earthquake and tsunami, catches have improved there markedly. As the spring Golden Week holidays have bluefn tuna already passed, demand is weak just as the increased supply from seine netters hits the market, pushing prices down to the same levels as farmed fsh. Te share of farmed bluefn (both imported and domestic) sold in Japan has increased to nearly 70 percent. About half of all fresh bluefn tuna on the market now comes from Mexico, supplanting Spanish product in the market. Farmed Mexican Visit us online at www.seafoodbusiness.com bluefn tuna was previously sold at a discount to other origins. Supermarkets in the Tokyo area sold Spanish farmed bluefn sashimi fllets last year at 1,280 yen for 100 grams, the same as domestically farmed product, while Mexican product was sold at 980 yen. It has recently found favor in supermarkets and conveyer-belt sushi shops, as the quality has proven satisfactory and prices have become more reasonable. Wholesale prices for fresh farmed Mexican bluefn at Tsukiji have risen 2 to 3 percent over the last two months, and are now at around the Gulf, the executive says there is a shortage of raw, headless, shellon shrimp, and buyers are shifting their purchases to wild Mexican shrimp. "We have been out for a while unexpectedly and everyone has shifted over to wild West Coast [shrimp from Mexico]," he says. Te majority of the shrimp being landed is head-on for peeling, with sizes of 60- to 70-count and smaller, one supplier said in a note to customers. Headless white production is mainly focused on 16-20s and 21-25s, but has been light entering the second week of June. "Expect to see the 2,300 yen per kilogram (kg). Te supply at Tsukiji from January to April of 2013 increased six-fold compared to the same period last year, to nearly 7,000 kg. Mexican farmed tuna is fown in from September to May. In the northern summer, buyers switch to southern bluefn tuna farmed in Australia. Southern bluefn currently averages 2,802 yen fresh and 1,995 frozen. Fresh bigeye sold at an average of 1,185 yen for domestic and 1,050 yen for imported, and frozen sold at an average of 791 per kg. Bigeye has replaced bluefn at medium to low-end supermarkets with sales volumes on the order of ten times that for bluefn. — Chris Loew headless white production improve in June," the supplier says. "We should see lower prices." Others report "robust" demand for Gulf shrimp at the start of the season, which is allowing fshermen to get good prices for headless, shell-on shrimp. Prices in early June for headless, shell-on brown Gulf shrimp ranged from $3 a pound for 61-70s to more than $13 a pound for U-10s. Shell-on, headless Gulf whites were seeing prices in the mid-$4 range for 41-50s to the mid$12s for U-12s. Peeled, headless Gulf shrimp were fetching around $2.25 a pound for 6170s and $4.15 for 6-8 counts. — SFB Staff Oyster report (Continued from page 12) by minor outbreaks of the OsHV-1 (Oyster Herpes virus type 1) in southern growing areas. Tis situation has resulted in increased prices. A year ago, the average wholesale price for U.K. Pacifcs stood at around £0.25 (€0.29/$0.39) each, and they retailed at around £0.80 (€0.94/$1.24), but these prices increased between 10 and 20 percent, according to one London trader. As a result, the total economic contribution as gross value added, including indirect and induced efects, should be a little higher than the £10.1 million (€11.8 million/$15.7 million) reported for 2011-2012. — Jason Holland July 2013 SeaFood Business 13