After months of sluggishness, the price of pollock raw materials has picked up in recent weeks. Last week, the price of 25cm+ heads and guts (H&G) in Russia finally reached $1,000/t. The lowest price in February this year was around $880/t.
Starting from January 1 this year, the EU imposed an additional 13.7% tariff on Russian pollock fillets (including secondary frozen fillets processed in China). In December last year, the 27 EU countries imported as much as 55,023 tons; in January this year, they dropped sharply to 7,183 tons, of which 3,984 tons came from the United States, accounting for 55%.
Now, several months have passed, and China's raw material inventories and European finished product inventories are declining. Buyers have begun to place orders again, and demand has increased, causing prices to rise.
A person in charge of a Chinese processing factory said that the current purchasing price of Chinese factories is between $1,000-$1,030/t. This news has been confirmed by many Russian suppliers.
In the A quarter of 2024, the European market’s transaction price for U.S. frozen PBO fillets was $3,400-$3,500/t, and the local price of Alaskan PBO fillets in the United States was $200-$250/t higher than in Europe. The U.S. seafood trade ban on Russia will take full effect on June 1.
The above-mentioned sources said that the current price of China’s secondary frozen fish fillets (sold in Europe) is $2,400-$2,500/t, excluding the 13.7% tariff. The price of primary frozen fish fillets in Russia in the A quarter of 2024 is $2,600-$2,800/t, excluding tax. The stock of Russian PBO fish fillets produced in 2023 is about 10,000 tons. Currently, Russian suppliers are clearing old stocks, and the market transaction price is as low as $2,200/t.