Raw Materials Forecast Upcoming North American Seafood Trends

GLOBAL - The 2016 China Fisheries and Seafood Expo wrapped up in Qingdao last Friday, leaving the market buzzing with pricing and supply trends for next year, reports Kyla Ganton in the Tradex Foods 3-Minute Market Insight.

As Haddock supply tightens from Norway and Russia, Chinese processing plants have begun to see raw material prices strengthening in conjunction.

Three months ago, raw materials were around $1800 per metric tonne, which has now risen to an unprecedented $2650 per metric tonne.

Plants are trying to secure production for after the Chinese New Year in March, but catch has been poor.

Recent West coast pricing on Skinless Haddock has hovered around $2.55 for fillets and $2.60 per pound for loins, but based on raw material projections we believe spot pricing will hit the range of $2.85 - $2.90 in the New Year.

While Haddock fishing in the North Atlantic is poor, suppliers have looked for Atlantic Cod instead, however, supply is also short for this whitefish too.

Two weeks ago Raw Materials were around $3,500 but have since risen to $3,800 per metric tonne.

This could raise finished goods pricing on the East coast from $3.25 per pound on Loins right now, to $3.55 per pound in the New Year.

For it's Pacific counterpart, Raw material pricing for Long line trawl caught Pacific Cod was at $2,800 per metric tonne but Chinese suppliers are now being quoted at $3,400.

This should translate to a 20 cent price increase on Cod Loins in the New Year, which are at $2.80 per pound in Los Angeles at the moment.

And finally, all Chinese plants have reported steady Pollock pricing well into the New Year.

Less and less Russian Pollock is being acquired, with processors preferring to work with Alaskan vendors.

As mentioned in last week's episode, Alaska Pollock from the Bering Sea is destined for twice frozen production in Asia, with 1.3 million metric tonnes caught as of October 29.

Last year Alaskan raw materials were around $1,400 per metric tonne, whereas Russian Pollock ranged from $1080 to $1180 per metric tonne.

Expect steady price points on twice frozen Pollock fillets for several more months.