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Issue link: https://seafoodbusiness.epubxp.com/i/233790
Market Report Pollock report Smokers struggle with high salmon prices 70 cents, he says. Te head of one East Coast seafood supplier says Alaska pollock has lost some of the luster it had a few years ago, as other alternatives have emerged for sellers and buyers. "When it comes to the cheaper market, there are just so many more options that have been created lately, including swai," the CEO says. Te 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 fshery was set at 1.63 million MT. — SFB Staff UK retail prices soar but French supermarkets hold frm S moked salmon is as much a part of Europe's holiday season as turkey and ugly knitwear. But while there was no depletion in supermarkets' cured fsh oferings in November and December, one noticeable diference was the lack of attractive price deals, which have become almost customary as the calendar year nears its conclusion. A U.K. supermarket survey in December found that 100-gram pack of smoked salmon was selling on average for £4 (€4.76/$5.56), 28 percent more than in December 2012. With the U.K. economy only smoked salmon just starting to show signs of recovery, it remains to be seen if such a large price spike will cool demand for the product. European smokers say the price of salmon has increased dramatically. In December, Norwegian producers were quoting prices in excess of NOK 40 (€4.71/$6.49) per kilogram (kg) in line with the shorter supply, but some smokers say they had been asked to Ecolabel boosts rebounding Gulf fshery Mahimahi prices tumble but fail to spur demand I mproving numbers in the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fshery have taken the fsh out of the danger zone — and of the red, or avoid, list of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program. By moving the fsh from red to the yellow, or good alternative designation, the aquarium has opened new foodservice markets for the once-overfshed species. "I sell to Compass, and part of it is Sodexho, which sells to schools. Tey cannot buy fsh that is not rated at least [good alternative] by [Seafood Watch], so that will impact me," says a red snapper buyer for an East Coast foodservice company. "So now I can sell to that specifc group of clients." Beyond those types of situations, though, the buyer says the change in status shouldn't impact demand from other sectors of the market that don't pay attention to such issues. Whole American red snapper prices in early December were running in the low- to mid$4 range, about 75 cents to $1 more a pound Visit us online at www.seafoodbusiness.com than whole yellowtail snapper coming out of Central and South America. Te foodservice buyer says prices for the imported fsh tend to stay below the prices for the American fsh, and because of that he buys the imports. Domestic snapper fllets are running between $6 and $8 a pound, down a bit from where they were. "Te imports go down and they go down from a percentage standpoint further than the domestics go down. So I'm running a special on them and I'm selling a lot of them right now," the buyer says, adding his customers pay as much as NOK 50 (€5.88/$8.06) per kg in late November, when the largest orders are placed before the holidays. Tese prices were around NOK 15 (€1.76/$2.42) ahead of those given a year previously. Prices have increased as a direct result of the signifcantly reduced supply in 2013. In the frst 11 months of the year, Norwegian producers exported 870,000 metric tons (MT) of salmon products, 35,000 MT less than in the corresponding period of 2012. With exports up NOK 8.7 billion (€1 "love snapper." Te buyer is also seeing better prices on mahimahi, adding whole H&G; mahi can be had for between $4.25 and $4.50, down $2 from where they had been. Despite that drop, he says his sales remain fat. "Mahi prices crashed, that was interesting, but it's not something I would take a position on," he says. But a buyer for a Florida-based restaurant group says mahi fllets are costing anywhere from the upper$8s to the low-$9 area, and that enables him to sell them on the plate for around $16, which makes them a better deal than halibut and sea bass, which cost diners about $5 more. — SFB Staff billion/$1.4 billion) year-on-year, 2013 was a good year for most of Norway's big producers. One market that has already reacted to high prices is France, Europe's biggest salmon market. French smokers produce more than 30,000 MT of salmon products annually, but they have found domestic retailers are reluctant to ramp up retail prices in accordance with the increased raw material costs. Tey say raw materials have accounted for as much as 75 percent of the value of smoked salmon this past year. With margins squeezed to such levels, several French smokers closed their doors in 2013. — Jason Holland Salmon report (Continued from page 12) virus (HPR 7A) that had never been detected in Chile before. Sources at producer Invertec say that Chilean farmers have not fared quite so well as Norway farms did in 2013. Despite the improved market situation in the United States this year, weaker prices in Japan failed to compensate what is being labeled as an "unfavorable year." Te persistent threat of disease in Chile and higher feed costs are the principal challenges Chilean producers are facing. However, analysts remain positive and do not predict a major decline in price for Chilean salmon. — Brewington & Co. January 2014 SeaFood Business 13