Oregon's Pink Shrimp Landings Outperform Industry Expectations But Prices Sink on Smaller Sizes
Oregon's shrimp season ended in October and landings as of September were 31.9 million pounds. The figure is down 61 percent from year-ago levels, but the decline was not surprising since the West Coast fishery is notorious for lower production in seasons that follow an El Nino year. In fact, the harvest was actually better than expected according to the Oregon Trawl Commission. However, the value of the fishery to date is about half of what it was a year ago. This is because the shrimp are smaller compared to 2015 and demand for 250-350 count product is not strong in the US market.
Major seafood distributor J.J McDonnell completed its move to a new 62,000 square foot facility in Elkridge, Maryland. The facility is more than twice the size of its previous location and features state-of-the-art cold storage technology. The facility supports a change in JJ's distribution offerings from mostly frozen fish to more fresh seafood.
In other news, Thai Union Group posted US$1 billion in third quarter sales, which was the second straight quarterly sales record for the operator. The figure represents a 7.7 percent sales increase compared to the same quarter in 2015. The increase was mostly driven by sales to the US market Thai Union said. However, Thai Union’s net income is actually down marginally in 2016 despite the record quarterly performances. This is because of declines in the company’s profit margins from higher salmon raw material costs and an unexpected increase in tuna prices.
Meanwhile, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute partnered with the McDowell Group to launch a project that will develop specialty seafood products that can be made from fish already commercially harvested, but which will carry market potential around the world. Staff at McDowell and ASMI will be reaching out to industry members this fall to align the list of products that will be further analyzed for market acceptance, target buyers, and provide data on price points. “ASMI and the McDowell group are working together on a trailblazing project to map out how specialty markets work, who the target consumers are, how to get products to them,” said Andy Wink, projects coordinator for McDowell.
Finally, Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) struck a deal with Ocean Gala Marine Resources that will increase the amount of Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP)-certified seafood exports from China reach the US and other global markets. Ocean Gala, which operates as Chang International in China, is a leading seafood processing and supply company with facilities in Kirkland, Wash. and Qingdao. The company exports wild and farmed seafood products into the European, North American, Japanese and Chinese markets.
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