Global fish prices leap to all-time high

June 18, 2013 4:18 pm

Global fish prices leap to all-time high

By Emiko Terazono in London

Global fish prices have leapt to all-time highs as China’s growing appetite for high-end species – from tuna to oysters – runs up against lower catches.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s global fish price index, an industry benchmark that tracks the cost of wild and farmed seafood, hit a record high in May, up 15 per cent from a year ago and above the peak set in mid 2011.“In the coming months, supply constraints for several important species are likely to keep world fish prices on the rise,” the Rome-based FAO has warned.

Changes in the Chinese diet have already boosted demand for grains and livestock feed, but the index suggests that the same phenomenon is under way in the seafood industry, where the total value of fish trade is expected to reach $130bn this year.

China is the world’s largest producer of farmed tilapia – the mainly freshwater white fish – but it is increasing its imports of other types such as salmon and shellfish.

Oyster and mussel consumption is growing at 20 per cent a year in the country, according to the FAO, making China a leading market for more expensive shellfish and tightening supply elsewhere.

Oyster prices, which have more than doubled over the past three years, are expected to rise further in 2013, as supplies from France remain low due to a virus that has destroyed the country’s young stock.

Richard Haward, a seventh generation oysterman in Essex, northeast of London, said: “Demand from Hong Kong and China and a worldwide shortage of supplies have increased prices.”

Urbanisation and the advent of supermarkets are contributing to higher fish consumption in emerging markets generally, the FAO has found.

Audun Lem, a fish expert at the FAO, said: “The product development, including ready meals and clean fillets really facilitates fish consumption.”

Rising Asian demand has coincided with low supplies for several key species because of disease and high feeding costs in the aquaculture industry.

The cost of tuna – one of the most heavily traded fish species – has risen 12 per cent in the past year, to reach a record high, on strong demand from makers of sashimi and sushi, as well as from the canned tuna industry. This has coincided with smaller catches.

Shrimp, another heavily traded species, has risen in price by 22 per cent over the same period as supplies have been hit by disease in southeast Asia, as well as by a fall in wild harvests.

Salmon prices, meanwhile, have surged 27 per cent – but remain well below their record highs.

Farmed fish production costs remain high as the industry battles with record feed costs. Fishmeal prices remain near a record high because of a sharp decline in supplies of anchovies, used to manufacture feed rations.

World Fish Prices Climb to Record on Demand for Salmon and Tuna

Global fish prices rose to a record in May on rising demand for salmon and falling supplies of tuna, according to the UN’s Food & Agriculture Organization.

An index of fish prices tracked by the Rome-based United Nations agency rose to 168 points in May, advancing 6.3 percent from April and up 16 percent from a year ago, data published in the FAO’s biannual Food Outlook report last week show.

Prices for farmed fish such as salmon rose faster than those from capture fisheries in the past year, the FAO data show. Aquaculture production is predicted to climb 5.6 percent in 2013, while capture of wild fish may rise 0.9 percent.

“Strong salmon demand despite rising salmon prices implies a structural shift in consumer demand, which is positive for salmon producers,” the FAO wrote in the outlook. “Despite record high prices, demand for tuna remains strong.”

Total fish production is forecast to climb 2.9 percent to 161.2 million metric tons this year from 156.7 million tons, with aquaculture output climbing to 70.2 million tons from 66.5 million tons. The value of fish exports is predicted to climb 2 percent to $130.8 billion this year after rising 0.5 percent to $128.2 billion in 2012.

“The lingering economic crisis in the major seafood importing markets of northern Europe and North America has contributed to generally sluggish growth in seafood imports,” the FAO wrote. “Demand for specific products has remained strong, namely salmon and tuna.”

The FAO’s index of salmon prices jumped to 195 points in May from 186 in April, surging from 156 in May 2012. The gage for the cost of tuna stood at 221 points, unchanged from the previous month and up from 198 in the year-earlier period.

Canned Fish

Tuna supplies to Asian canners are down this year, lifting prices for the canned fish. Japan’s market for sashimi tuna was “firm” at the start of 2013, while the U.S. market for uncanned tuna was stable in the face of prices of $2,000 a ton.

“Evidence shows that the record high tuna prices are not hindering import demand in the major markets,” the FAO wrote. “Canned tune prices are expected to remain stable in the face of low supply relative to demand.”

World production of farmed salmon is expected to be little changed this year at 2.01 million tons, with output down 2.3 percent to 1.05 million tons in Norway, the largest producer.

Global food consumption of fish is forecast to rise to 19.7 kilograms per capita this year from 19.2 kilograms in 2012, mainly as consumers eat more farmed fish, according to the Food Outlook report.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at rruitenberg@bloomberg.net