There was a lot of turmoil in the coldwater prawn market prior to the Brussels seafood show, as demand seems to be stronger at the moment, but it is unclear whether the strength will last.
Norway is beginning to see landings from the Barents Sea and export volumes of cooked and peeled shrimp are about 40 per cent higher for the first three months of this year than last year. However, current prices for cooked and peeled are about 11 per cent lower than the full-year average of 2018.
The Norwegians also report that some volumes of Russian twice-frozen industrial shrimp are being offered on the market.
Also, Icelandic double frozen shipments to the United Kingdom ticked up in value about 10 pence in March for the first time in many months.
In Canada, Quebec is seeing the most dramatic price movements. Last year its average price was around $1.35/pound for the boats landing shrimp for processing. This year it has jumped to nearly $1.90/pound, higher than prices in Newfoundland.
The reason is partly due to a significant decline in shrimp availability for the plants in Quebec and the determination by some companies to bid up prices in an effort to secure market share in the face of reduced supply.
The final Quebec prices were not yet set at press time, but packers have offered the same price structure as last year.
The Newfoundland shrimp prices were decided by negotiation this year and did not go to the price panel. Shrimp of four–five grams, making 250–350 cooked and peeled, was reported as priced about $1.78/pound, with slightly higher prices in area 4R on the west coast. This is likely the first time in many years that Quebec shrimp prices have been higher than those in Newfoundland.
On the west coast, most boats remain on strike, having failed to agree with Oregon processors on a shrimp price.
The harvesters want a price at least equal to last year, which averaged around 72 cents from May through July, but rose to 87 cents (U.S.) by Sept/Oct when landings slowed down. In April of 2018, the shrimp price at the dock averaged 69 cents.
However, there are some boats from Washington State and northern Oregon that are fishing despite the strike and are accepting a price of as much as 20 per cent less than 2018.
Reports are that some of these boats are accepting a 52-cent price, which would be 25 per cent below April of 2018.
Pacfin data supports the idea of these lower prices paid to boats that are fishing. Although April fish ticket price data is not complete, it does appear to be well below the prices reported for April 2018.
Either this current uptick in prices is due to the fact that there is little shrimp being landed and some buyers need to replenish stocks, or it is due to stronger sales.
There is still the expectation this year that there will be increased supplies of industrial twice-frozen shrimp.
With crab, the season opening price normally covers the bulk of landings and if the market weakens after the initial burst of landings, sellers are left with high priced inventory and the rest of the year becomes a battle to avoid losing money in a weakening market.
With shrimp, both in Canada and in the U.S., prices have more ability to adjust.
In Newfoundland, there will be a potential price adjustment in June and on the west coast and there should be some better clarity on how close to last year’s prices the packer’s offers will be. But in both cases, prices can adjust during the summer.
For this reason, high shrimp prices at the moment pose less of a risk than they do in the snow crab industry. With shrimp, the problem is getting the volume to run through the shrimp plants and many Newfoundland plants will be producing some twice-frozen product as well as single frozen in an attempt to keep a minimal operating volume.
This article was republished with permission of John Sackton and seafood.com.
