Skyrocketing year for Russian Crab Group

The Russian Crab Group (the largest crab harvester in the Russian Far East and one of the leading ones in Russia) has published impressive results for 2020 both in terms of catch and market development, reports Megafishnet.com.

According to the Russian Crab LLC, last year the crab catch surged fivefold from 2.5 thousand tons in 2019 to 13.0 thousand tons in 2020 as the group started fishery on the quota shares purchased at the crab auctions in 2019.

The crabber fleet harvested red king crab, blue king crab, golden king crab, horsehair crab, as well as snow crab opilio and bairdi in the subzones of the Sea of Okhotsk, Bering Sea and the Sea of Japan.

During this period, the company harvested 13,020 tons of crab accounting for 19% of the total crab catch in the Russian Far East.

The company has exhausted 99.1% of the available annual quota versus the average of 95% for the Far Eastern Fisheries.

China and South Korea

Compared to 2019, the company increased its export volume 3.5 times with its share in the Russian crab exports to China going up to 22.7% (+10.5 percent vs 2019), to Korea up to 15.5% (+10.6 percent vs 2019).

The share of Russian Crab LLC in the total crab supplies to these countries for 11 months of the year reached 10 and 11%, respectively.

USA

In the United States, where the company entered the market with the main volumes in the second half of the year, its share in total crab imports into the United States reached 4.2%, and in sales from Russia it amounted to 10.8%.

Japan and EU

Sales to Japan also showed a noticeable increase, despite the fact that quarantine restrictions significantly reduced the activity of importers.

"Russian Crab" plans to further expand the geography of sales. Along these lines, at the end of the year agreements were reached on trial deliveries to the EU countries.

COVID-19

The cooperation with Asian and American buyers was facilitated by the increased attention of the manufacturer to the quality of products, and prevention of COVID-19. During the entire quarantine period, the company operates in compliance with enhanced sanitary security. At the end of the year, the cost of such measures exceeded 40 million rubles. The production process in terms of ensuring the safety of exported products is organized in accordance with the official recommendations of Russian and foreign agencies, the company underlined.

Fleet renewal

In 2020, an investment project for the construction of a new crab fleet for the Russian Crab Group was launched. Orders have been placed for 10 vessels. Seven of them will be built by the Onega Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Plant. The keels of the first two vessels were laid in June and December. At the moment, the yard is working on the hulls of the boats.

The important projects of the year also include the start of the MSC certification and operations digitalization.

Russian Crab Group (owned by the same interests as the Russian Fishery Company) is one of the leading crab fishing companies in Russia and the largest in the Far East. In 2021, the group owns the rights to catch 12.86 thousand tons of crabs in the subzones of the northwestern Pacific Ocean or 19% of the total in the Russian Far East.

Crab fishery is conducted by the company's own fleet of 20 vessels.

The Russian Crab Group exports live and cooked-and-frozen products to China, South Korea, Japan and the United States.