Players making projections for pink salmon prices in August and September 2007

By the end of August wholesale prices for freshfrozen pink salmon (highly popular item) are expected to change due to the emerging supply situation in the current fishing season, according to a spokesman of Moscow branch of Tikhrybkom Group.

In particular, as per early August 2007 the spokesman made the following price projections ex-coldstore in Moscow:

• pink salmon head-on and gutted - RUR55.00 per kilo;
• pink salmon w/r - RUR54.00 per kilo;
• chum salmon head-on and gutted - RUR67.00 per kilo;
• sockeye salmon head-on and gutted - RUR120.00 per kilo;
• chinook salmon head-on and gutted - RUR160.00 per kilo.

The forecast is based on the catch figures as per late July with the fishing scene in that time concentrating in East Kamchatka, while the stocks' runs in the Kuriles and Sakhalin remained weak.

If the above catch dynamics remains on the same level by the middle of August the prices are forecasted to rise due to processors' growing purchases to build up inventory for the factories' load for the year coming, increased activity of Asian buyers of pink salmon and negative expectations of the domestic market saturation. Serious changes can also arise from the weather conditions.

On the other hand, according to the optimistic scenario of the fishery situation, salmon prices in Moscow are expected to amount to ca.RUR53.00 per kilo in the middle of August falling to RUR45.00 per kilo by the beginning of September later this year.