Image: Revista Puerto / FIS

Fishery exports from January to September

In these nine months, sales abroad fell by 4.5% and this is largely due to the decline in whole shrimp operations, given that the tails of the crustacean and hubbsi hake had an increase in demand. A reactivation of the Chinese market is observed, although still incipient.

The report prepared by CAPeCA allows for updated data on sales abroad, something that the Undersecretariat of Fisheries has practically lost, given that unfortunately the data is published with at least three months of delay. The report from this chamber, prepared with data from INDEC, indicates that for the period from January to September there was a 4.5% drop in fishing exports, compared to the same period last year. This decline is moderate in relation to the decline in exports of primary and manufactured products of agricultural origin, with the first case falling by 38.3% and the second by 26.7%.

Photo: Revista Puerto

The fishing products that had positive balances were hubbsi hake and shrimp tails, while squid, due to a season of low catches, fell in sales; but the great debacle is that of the whole shrimp, which reduced its demand by almost 30%. Unlike what had been happening, shrimp tails improved in price in September, while hake filet suffered a drop and whole shrimp continued on its constant downward curve.

The products with the highest export volume continue to be squid, shrimp and hubbsi hake, in that order; and the main markets to which the 350,219 tons exported were destined were Asian and European, which generate 71% of the foreign currency that enters the country from the sale of fishing products, some 976 million of a total of 1,367 million dollars .

Hubbsi hake

Source: Stockfile FIS

In the analysis by species, an increase in demand for this product is observed, but without major shocks; Stability is one of the characteristics that the fishery has developed since quotas. In the case of fillets, 45 thousand tons were exported, which is equivalent to an increase in demand of 4%, but in these nine months there was a slight drop in the price of 1.7%, leaving its average value at 3,208 dollars per ton.

Source: Stockfile FIS -->

In the accumulated sales, as a result of greater demand from Spain and a decrease in Brazil, the usual order was reversed, leaving the Iberian country as the largest buyer and the Rio de Janeiro country in second place. Although the price fell in Brazil by more than 6%, it remained at a higher value than that paid by Spain, which even paying 5% more than last year did not reach the average price, leaving it at $3,066 per ton. The United States, which is in third place in importance as a market with 10% of what the main ones buy, was one of those that paid the highest price, at a rate of $3,520 per ton.

For frozen hake meat in presentations other than filet, the numbers were also positive, with a growth in sales of 5.5% and a slight increase of 1% in its average price, which stood at $1,545 per ton. The main buyer is Russia with a fifth of the total exported (25 thousand tons) although it required 10% less than last year. In order of importance, Jordan, Ukraine and Israel follow as the main buyers: of the four main buyers, three are at war. Spain and the United States, although with very low volumes of demand, are the ones that have paid the best for this product: 1,821 and 1,921 dollars per ton, respectively.

Shrimp

Source: Stockfile FIS

That sales of frozen whole shrimp on board are not picking up is no longer news to anyone; the time when markets required it and paid a good price for this premium product seems distant. Sales, compared to the same period in 2022, have fallen by 13.4% in volume and 28.5% in foreign currency income, as a result of the 17.7% drop in price, which left it at a value of 5,476 dollars per ton. In total 51 thousand tons were sold.

Spain, although it reduced its demand by 30%, remains the main buyer and obtained the products this year at a price 18% lower, at a rate of $5,379 per ton. The market that is timidly picking up is China: although demand increased by 50%, the volume is not very high. With 9 thousand tons, it acquired less than half of what Spain took, but it did so at a better price, despite having fallen 19%, remaining at $5,573 per ton.

<-- Source: Stockfile FIS

Another market that bought again was Italy, which also increased demand by 55% and paid $5,554 per ton, but handles smaller volumes: this year 6,600 tons have been exported. Japan, on the other hand, has lowered its purchase level by 39% and although it was one of the markets with the best price, today it is below the average price, at $5,450 per ton.

52 thousand tons of shrimp tails have been sold, 30% more than last year and the average price was 7,659 per ton, 4% lower than in 2022. They had China as a major buyer, which, with 15 thousand tons, demand increased 116% paying $7,026 per ton, a low value compared to the average price.

In second place and demanding less than half that of China, is Spain, but in this case the price paid was good, about 8 thousand dollars per ton. Peru, which last year had required fewer lines, this year ranked third with an increase in demand of almost 10% but with a low price: just 25 cents more than China was what it paid. The United States, which requires a more elaborate product and therefore pays $11,164 per ton, decreased demand by 15% compared to last year. A country that greatly increased its demand this year was Russia, 169%, going from purchasing 800 tons in 2022 to 2,300 this year.

Illex squid

Source: Stockfile FIS

The squid figures between now and the end of the year are not going to change given that practically everything that has been caught has been sold. The jiggers unloaded 134 thousand tons this year and almost 129 thousand have been exported. It was exported at a value 4% higher than in 2022 and the drop in sales has been 8.4%, a percentage that speaks of a season of low catches and not of a decrease in demand.

The average price was 2,239 dollars per ton and the main market was South Korea, which paid below the average price, at a rate of 2,054 dollars per ton; In second place is China with 24 thousand tons (8 thousand less than Korea); paid a price above the average at a rate of $2,256 per ton. Singapore and Thailand were the other two relevant markets in terms of demand volume: the second paid above the average price, while Singapore paid the lowest market price, $1,987 per ton. These four markets accounted for more than 72% of total exports.

Patagonian toothfish and king crab

Source: Stockfile FIS

The products with the highest value from the Argentine Sea have had increases in exported volume. In the case of toothfish, sales abroad grew by 25.5%, trading at $25,840 per ton, 1.4% lower than in 2022. The main market continues to be the United States and others that are not They are specified in the official statistics and therefore not in the CAPeCA report.

For crab, the increase in sales was 47.9% in volume and had a price increase of 13.8%, trading at $21,109 per ton. The only market for this product is the United States.

Source: Revista Puerto (Traslated from the original in Spanish)

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