Pollock roe auctions in Busan took off with diving prices

In early December, auction sales of "autumn" pollock roe of US origin started in Busan, reports Megafishnet.com.

According to Japanese seafood media, they started with almost a month's delay compared to the usual schedule and are held in remote access mode due to the fact that in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is virtually impossible for Japanese buyers to participate directly in auctions that are held abroad.

The first quality inspections of the offered lots were carried out on Tuesday, December 1, and the sales started on Wednesday, December 2.

From the very start of the sales, products of both ship and shore production were offered, which allows a more objective assessment of both the overall picture of the supply and the price situation.

The first day saw the sales of a total of twelve batches of the season "B" total volume of nearly 0.34 thousand tonnes, including about 55 t of products of the Golden Alaska mothership and more than 280 tons of Alyeska and Westward land-based factories.

The average selling price of ship-made roe across the entire offer range was quite close to the level of 450 yen/kg, or about US$4.30/kg at the current exchange rate of the yen, which can be considered quite high for the "autumn" roe.

At the same time, the average price for onshore products was limited to a range of only 190-220 yen/kg (about US$1.85-2.10/kg), and prices even for batches with a relatively high level of quality were quite low, forming in the range of 335-420 yen/kg (about US$3.20-4.05/kg).

Prices for four batches of products of the lowest quality (grades R and T) were limited to a range of only 85-150 yen / kg (about US$0.80-1.45 / kg), and due to the fact that the share of such products in the total supply of onshore roe was close to 50%, the overall level of prices for onshore products was extremely low.

This, however, was quite expected, since prices for products of the summer and autumn fishing season are traditionally very low, reflecting also a rather low level of quality, for objective reasons.

According to Japanese market experts, it was easily predictable that prices for low-grade products would drop significantly compared to last year's autumn sales, which were held in early November 2019.

The scale of the price drop for the products of the coastal sector was approximately 35-60%, and this happened against of a reduction in supply by almost 10%.

At the same time, prices for two batches of MX and G roe produced at sea at the Golden Alaska mothership, amounting to 565 yen/kg (about US$5.45/kg) and 680 yen/kg (about US$6.50/kg), respectively, decreased by only 6-7%, although the total volume of its supply was almost the same as in November 2019.

According to market experts, problems with demand from the restaurant and cafe sector have mostly affected the activity of South Korean buyers, which were focused on low-grade raw materials. 

The interest from Japanese buyers, which was focused on good-quality raw materials, was less sensitive to the pandemic-hit restaurant demand because they mainly use the material to produce ready-made caviar in bags for retail sales.