Prices for frozen pink salmon bounce back after reaching bottom at source in Vladivostok

The wholesale prices for pink salmon from Kamchatka and Sakhalin catch have reached the bottom in Vladivostok and bounced back in a jump-style fashion with the situation in Sakhalin fishery behind the expectations of the market players. Also foreign buyers have gone ahead with inspections of salmon in the ports of the Russian Far East, according to http://www.megafishnet.com/.

More specifically the downward trend reversed as the third big run in Aniva Bay have not yet materialized while the overall import quota for the Russian salmon of 100 000 MT has been approved by the governments of China (50 000MT), Japan (30 000MT) and South Korea (20 000MT). According to sources in the trade, as per mid-August foreign buyers were contracting supplies of Kamchatka pink salmon HG from USD 2900 per tonne and pinks gutted head-on from USD 2100 per tonne.

In Moscow the trends are different depending on the quality of fish. The prices of pink salmon (gutted head-on) of good quality (Sakhalin, Magadan) have remained stable so far at 80-83 RUB per kilo wholesale.

Meanwhile, the big volumes of pinks gutted head-on from Kamchatka (inferior second grade) are traded at 60-65RUB with a downward trend still in place. The thing is that apart from abundant supply this quality is not fit for smoking and for production of dried-and-salted salmon sticks (a great disadvantage with the segment of such snacks quickly growing).

Shipments

As per 18 August since the start of the season 88 000MT of frozen salmon have been reportedly landed in Vladivostok with 78 000 MT bound for the domestic market by railway.

The railway companies say that they have enough rolling stock of reefer cars to ship the catch to main consumption areas, mainly to Moscow- the most important distribution hub for fish from the Russian Far East.