Prices for Russian-made frozen chum salmon roe growing record high

Following the sales of frozen pink salmon roe, in late October sales of Russian-made frozen chum salmon roe were held for the Japanese market, reports Megafishnet.com.

As a result of these sales, prices reached a record high, and during the parallel sales of frozen pink salmon roe, they also formed at a very high level from the point of view of Japanese users.

According to many market experts, taking into account the real situation in the autumn chum salmon fishery in Hokkaido, the season of sales of sieved salmon roe on the Japanese market in 2020 may well pass in conditions of no less high prices than in 2017, despite all the obvious risks of such a turn of events in terms of future market prospects.

Gidrostroy's auction

Japanese specialized sources report that on October 27, Gidrostroy held its auction of frozen salmon roe for the new season on Sakhalin with a rather serious delay relative to initial expectations. Within the framework of this auction, the total supply of chum salmon roe reached more than 400 metric tons, and the offer of pink salmon roe came close to 150 tonnes. For quarantine reasons, the participation of Japanese buyers was restricted by the remote mode, and so-called quality inspections were carried out based on photographs and video images. However, according to auction participants, the entire volume of the offer was sold out, despite exceptionally high prices (primarily for chum salmon roe), which can cause a shock in the market.

According to the price results of this auction, it is reported that prices for chum salmon roe approached the level of US$50.00 per kg, reaching the range of US$46.00-47.00 per kg (CAF), which is almost twice the level of last season. And the prices for pink salmon roe were formed at the level of US$34.00-35.00 per kg, which approximately corresponds to the highest results of previous auctions of the current season.

According to market experts, the reasons that led to such results of the latest Russian sales are not only that the situation with supplies from Alaska is extremely unfavorable, and not only that the situation in the autumn chum salmon fishery in Hokkaido by the end of October has become completely weak, but also that the October sales, which were conducted by Gidrostroy, may be the last in the current season with more or less large volumes of products with a fairly high reputation in terms of quality.

According to preliminary estimates, purchases of frozen chum salmon roe produced in Russia at this level of auction prices will cost producers of salmom caviar approximately 5150-5250 yen per kg. Taking into account the standard output and all costs for processing and production of finished products, the minimum profitability will be possible only at prices above 7000 yen per kg.

The cost of purchasing frozen pink salmon roe for Japanese users will rise to 4,000 yen per kg or more, which will raise the price of finished products well above 5,000 yen per kg, and this would also have looked fantastically high two or three weeks ago. However, by the end of October, the overall market situation began to mature so serious changes that even with such prices for products made from frozen raw, working with it may well be more interesting in terms of final sales, since prices for autumn chum salmon caviar from the Hokkaido and North-Eastern Honshu markets may rise to a much higher level.

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