ANALYSIS: Strong Demand, Constrained Supply for Frozen Tuna

Frozen tuna imports have increased over the years due in large part to the consistent, strong demand from the foodservice sector. Imports peaked in 2019 registering a record 90 million pounds. Not only was the marketable to absorb this influx of supply, but pricing also remained firm, trending above its 5- year average for frozen steaks.

However, as the COVID-19 virus took hold in 2020, and restaurants across the country closed, importers modified their buying decisions. Frozen tuna imports for the year registered 73.3 million pounds...

ANALYSIS: Blue Swimming Crab Meat Prices Soar; Up 34 Percent from Beginning of the Year 

The crab meat market has reached all-time highs, above levels seen in the late summer and early fall of 2017. Most market participants said it was just a matter of time—and it looks as though they were correct.  

The blue swimming crab meat market for colossal, jumbo lump, super lump, and lump have all achieved all-time highs this month. Meanwhile, the remainder of the grades, backfin, special, and claw continue to climb...

ANALYSIS: Strength in Shrimp Market Accelerating, Demand Robust and Supply Constrained

Shrimp market values have been on the rise all year but accelerated in the last 30 days. The current situation is unique and the environment unmistakably robust.

Demand has become quite active in tandem with the reopening of restaurants, but probably at a pace that has surprised most market participants. The issue at-hand is that suppliers are short, part intentional and part through no fault of their own.

Importers had been replenishing somewhat cautiously — and for good reason...

ANALYSIS: Tilapia Pricing at Record Highs 

Despite the market being frozen-in-place for the majority of 2020, frozen tilapia fillets from China have seen an average increase of $0.61 cents per pound since 2018, or up by $0.21 per pound from November 2020 when reports of increased freight were just starting to circulate. Currently, 3-5 ounce and 5-7 ounce, chem-free fillets are boasting all-time record high pricing at $2.55 per pound and $2.65 per pound, respectively.

While tariffs and freight weigh...

ANALYSIS: Pangasius YTD Imports Highest Since 2017

The latest U.S. Census data was released this week, showing pangasius frozen fillet imports for February 2021 reported 18.8 million pounds of product, the highest February on record since February 2016 brought in 27.1 million pounds. In looking at year-to-date data, the first two months of 2021 collectively reported 41.1 million pounds of product. This year-to-date total is the highest since 2017 brought in 41.9 million pounds for the same timeframe. Compared to the previous five-year year-to-date average...

ANALYSIS: Supply Situation for Blue Swimming Crab Meat Market Remains Strained

For the blue swimming crab meat market, things seem to be just getting worse.  

Today's focus is on lack of available product. Looking at the January import numbers, Indonesia, the top importing country in the category, is up 3.3 percent to kick of 2021; but it's just not enough.  

Along with many other seafood species that Urner Barry covers, we have discussed at length the shipping issues, including lack of containers, and rising logistics costs. All of this applies to...

ANALYSIS: Fresh Imported Seafood: Supply Constraints Amid Foodservice Recovery

Signs of optimism are emerging as we approach the one-year anniversary of the initial COVID-19 lockdown. Increasing confidence in the vaccine rollout and easing of state-by-state COVID-19 restrictions are laying the groundwork for the return of the foodservice sector.

For the better part of 2020, importers of fresh fish kept lean inventories due to lockdown orders and closures of dine-in restaurants across the country. During this time, sellers adapted to the new environment and started to move product into the retail sector...

ANALYSIS: Cooked and Peeled Coldwater Shrimp: Tough Nut To Crack

Following a sluggish start to the year, suppliers of Panadalus Borealis have noticed a gradual uptick in demand, at least for cooked and peeled product going into the UK. With the summer months approaching and lockdowns easing, some market participants expect offer levels to firm.   

While several factors may lead to an uptick in demand for coldwater prawns, several challenges remain.

Key suppliers to the UK market continue to face mixed fortunes.   

While the signing of a free-trade deal between Canada and...

January Shrimp Imports Start 2021 Strong

January shrimp import totals were released today and started 2021 with another year-over-year increase (+7.0%) to 153.117 million pounds. This was a record for the month of January, continuing a trend of higher imports.

Urner Barry Consulting Economist Angel Rubio forecast 150.920 million pounds to start the year.

India remained our number one trade partner but shipped less (-2.7%) compared to January 2020. The remaining top-five trade partners all shipped more with gains seen from Indonesia (+21.4%), Ecuador(+12.3%)...

ANALYSIS: Octopus Prices Firm Amid Supply Issues

Up until now, it has only been the Spanish octopus market that has been able to firm and even strengthen during the pandemic due to continued demand from the European markets. Unlike the United States, where octopus is largely an out-of-home dining experience, European consumers regularly cook and enjoy the species at home. Retail sales throughout Europe were enough to support elevated raw material costs to the United States despite demand from the foodservice and restaurant sectors coming to a halt in the U.S. in 2020...

ANALYSIS: Pangasius Imports Gain 10 Million Pounds in 2020

Total 2020 imports for pangasius frozen fillets totaled 127.9 million pounds, an 8.8 percent increase from the previous year, or 10.4 million pounds more. 2019 recorded the lowest volume year for imports since 2009 brought in 108.8 million pounds, while experiencing the largest volume just a few years ago in 2016 at 288.4 million pounds...

ANALYSIS: Aquaculture Review: Tilapia Strengthening amid Catfish and Pangasius Stagnation

In the current market, tilapia is under upwards pressure, while Chinese catfish and Vietnamese pangasius have remained mostly steady. With all markets experiencing similar logistical obstacles such as rising freight costs, limited to no container availability, and delays from inbound and outbound COVID-19 testing procedures, why is it that tilapia is the only market strengthening at the moment?

Throughout the pandemic the U.S. tilapia market faired extremely well. The country was well supplied with product prior to China shutting...

ANALYSIS: December Shrimp Imports Move Higher Again to Another Annual Record

December shrimp imports were released today and show a large increase (+8%) from last year to 146.242 million pounds. This was a reversal from last month’s marginally lower year-over-year figure and put total 2020 imports at 1.645 billion pounds. This again broke the one-year-old record by 6.3 percent. This is the sixth straight year of gains to record levels.

Urner Barry Consulting Economist Angel Rubio forecast 158.688 million pounds for this month.

All the top five trade partners shipped more product to...

ANALYSIS: Cooler Water Temperatures Lead to Slow Start for Mahi Season

The 2020-2021 mahi fishing season in Central and South America (C&SA) is ongoing, with almost four months of fishing completed. Early initial landings in Peru and Ecuador have been characterized as disappointing, as size and catch volume are both lacking.

It has been reported that there is a La Niña weather pattern occurring in C&SA, which cools the surface ocean waters along the west coast of South America. Due to the cooler water temperature, fishermen in...

ANALYSIS: Lobster Exports to China Continue Upward Trend; Total Exports Trail 2019 Levels

Year-to-date (January-November 2020) lobster exports to China, total 12.5 million pounds; a 130.4% increase year-over-year and are outpacing their 6-year average by 14.1%. Keep in mind that the live export market to China was derailed back in July 2018, when China placed heavy retaliatory tariffs on U.S. lobster imports. Up to that point, year-to-date (January-June 2018) exports totaled 11.7 million pounds, on track for a record-setting year...

ANALYSIS: King Crab Market Firm as Demand Outweighs Supply

A lack of supply and available replacement product from Russia continues to be the overall theme in the king crab market. Through November 2020, king crab imports are down 6.8 percent from Russia, the top producing country in the world.

The past two months of imports have fallen well below the 3-year average of monthly imports. In taking a closer look at the cyclical behavior of imports, both October and November are noticeably lower; down 34 and 49 percent respectively in comparison to the 3-year average...

ANALYSIS: Commodity Prices Surging Higher; Is This the Next Supercycle?

Commodity prices have moved higher coming out of the initial phase of the pandemic with the price trough seen in May 2020. There has been an almost perfect storm of factors that have led to the increase. The first is the major supply chain disruptions that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to be felt now. There has also been a massive stimulus response in the United States and many other countries that has injected capital into the...

ANALYSIS: Supply Speculation Continues to Influence the Argentine Red Shrimp Market 

Hailed as the most profitable fishery in the Argentine Sea, Pleoticus Muelleri (Argentine Red shrimp) demand continues to contend with a mixture of issues. 

While there is a sense of cautious optimism amid an uptick in vaccines, irregularities in global trade remain a concern.  

Normally driven by demand out of southern Europe and the Far East, exporters have had to contend with lacklustre sales amid the closure of foodservice and changes in buying behaviour across key markets. While demand...

ANALYSIS: Frozen Lobster Products Ascend into Record-High Territory

The market for frozen lobster products has been thrusted into record-high territory given a somewhat unexpected level of demand and a short supply situation that has developed without the benefit of meaningful replacement. 

In 2020, in-and-around the height of the pandemic and coinciding with new season production, frozen lobster tail values fell roughly 25 percent. The levels were now attractive to retailers who gravitated to products that replicated the restaurant experience. This buying resulted in a warm water...

ANALYSIS: Alaskan Pollock Blocks - Record High Prices, Continued Strain on Supply

The Alaskan pollock market sees continued challenges carryover from the 2020 B season. Last year the industry was not only faced with new operating procedures aboard vessels in the wake of COVID-19, but changing fishing patterns including a smaller, younger class of fish into the fishery as well as fish moving farther into fishing area FAO 61 causing longer travel time and increased fuel costs in the Northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean, all contributing to production slowdowns and supply issues...

ANALYSIS: King Crab Pricing at All-time Highs 

King crab pricing is currently at all-time highs and many importers and buyers see no end in sight. Even with higher imports the past two months in comparison to previous years, the market is still tight and demand is robust and falling well short of buyers’ full needs.

January imports of king crab, released earlier this month, are lower than December 2020 but continue to be much higher than the same time period last year. In comparison to January 2020, total...

ANALYSIS: Pangasius YTD Imports Highest Since 2017

Pangasius frozen fillet imports boasted 22.3 million pounds of volume for the first month of the new year, recording a 35.9 percent increase over the previous month and 46.7 percent over January 2020 volumes. January 2021 imports are the highest January on record since 2017, a promising start to an industry eager to grow their market share.

Vietnam is currently the only country exporting...

ANALYSIS: Salmon Market Marches Onward and Upward

After several weeks of lower offers to kick off the Lenten season, the farmed salmon market has rebounded. As of this writing the market is seeing some significant upward pricing pressure across the complex heading into the end of the week.  

Looking at the salmon index, 2021 is now trending above the same time-period in 2020 and approaching the 3-year average; just 3 percent lower. With higher offerings collected thus far across the complex, there is a chance the salmon market will...

ANALYSIS: U.S. Snow Crab Buyers May Have Options To Feed Hungry Market

The Alaskan snow crab season marches on with 43 percent of the IQF allocation caught and about 22.9 million pounds remaining of the 40.5 million total allowable catch. With Trident’s plant in Akutan, Alaska, now back up and running as of February 23, overall processing should be well underway.  

Market participants continue to report that the current U.S. market is starved for snow crab, even with an 80 percent increase in snow crab imports from Russia this year...

ANALYSIS: Lobster Prices Firm as Industry Faces Supply Shortage

Competition for product from shippers, and the live market has...

ANALYSIS: Crab Meat Prices Continue to Rise Amid Low Inventories

Crab meat like many other sectors in the premium shellfish category is seeing gains in pricing and many importers are experiencing a lack of inventory across many grades for blue swimming crab meat. Quotations have been firming significantly each week and all sizes of blue swimming crab meat are at 52-week highs.

Supply limitations in Asia due to COVID-19 and logistic constraints due to a lack of containers and shipping delays have helped create supply and inventory shortages across...

ANALYSIS: Bangladesh’s Black Tiger Shrimp Farmers Continue to Face Market Shortcomings

Despite adopting international management practices and virus-free seeds in recent years, Bangladeshi shrimp farmers, who primarily farm black tiger shrimp, continue to contend with market shortcomings.  

In addition to economic hurdles imposed by the unwavering pandemic, the domestic shrimp market has had to contend with disastrous weather conditions which has left some farmers unable to restock ponds.

On the back of untimely natural disasters, COVID-induced bottlenecks and subsequent global economic windfalls, exports of frozen shrimp fell by...

ANALYSIS: Spanish Octopus Prices on the Rise Despite Foodservice Fallout

While octopus is largely an out-of-home dining experience here in the U.S., the opposite is true for European and Asian consumers, so much so, that raw material prices for Spanish octopus strengthened throughout the pandemic while the U.S. market was largely frozen-in-place.

In looking at the latest imports through November 2020, year-to-date figures fall 39.2 percent below the previous 3-year average for the same timeframe. Importers were cautious in the amount of product they brought into the country after...

ANALYSIS: Tilapia Imports Highest in 3 Years, Prices Highest in 6 Years

Imports of frozen tilapia fillets took a dive into November, falling 31.7 percent for a total monthly volume of 14.3 million pounds. The previous 3-year average for the month of November is 22.8 million pounds, November 2020 falling well below average, down 37 percent.

On a year-to-date basis, however, January through November import volumes are 12.5 percent higher than the previous year, totaling 236.3 million pounds. This is the highest year-to-date total since...

ANALYSIS: Pangasius Imports Skyrocket 122 Percent

The pangasius market has slowly and steadily been rebuilding after a tumultuous few years stemming from a regulation shift in September of 2017 from the FDA to the USDA.

Since then, we saw record high wholesale and replacement prices, rising raw material and administrative costs, and lengthy delays due to new and in-depth inspection processes. In the wake of high prices in 2018, farming of the species increased and U.S. imports were strong. With higher volumes in inventory, and reports of consumption trailing...