Squid Market Report - January 2009
High squid catches
Total squid catches in the South West Atlantic reached 400 000 tonnes in
2008, about 30 000 tonnes below the record 2007 result. :Lower
catches off Falkland/Malvinas were the main
responsible for the decline. Total production was150 000 tonnes in 2008, 50 000
tonnes less in 2007. While Loligo catches off
Falkland/Malvinas were stable at 41 000 tonnes, Illex catches declined by 30% to 106 000 tonnes. Mainland
Argentina
reported 250 000 tonnes in 2008,
a 20 000 tonne increase over 2007. Prices, which first
had declined in the opening months of 2008, recovered somewhat in the second
half of year. However, the higher costs of capture fisheries in the 2008
season could not be recovered in spite of the increase in production and in
prices. The unit value of Argentine squid exports was US$ 882/tonne, 15%
ahead of the extremely low price reported in 2007. In the first seven
months of the year, some 112 000 tonnes were exported from Argentina,
just 3% more than in the same period of 2007. Total export earnings during the
period reached almost US$ 100 million.
Limited buying interest in Japanese market
Japan
had a huge carry over of squid from 2007 during the first half of the year,
which resulted in limited buying interest. As a result, imports went down in
2008. Total imports into Japan
in the first nine months of this year reached 49 700 tonnes, about 8 000
tonnes less than in the same period of 2007. Total imports for 2008 should
thus stay far below the record 77 000 tonnes imported in 2007.
China
is the main supplying country of squid to the Japanese market, with 18 100
tonnes in the January-September 2008 period, 15% less than in the same period
of 2007. Argentine squid exports to Japan were almost halved to 5 400
tonnes. Argentina thus
lost its number two position of supplier of squid to the Japanese market to Peru.
The USA
are becoming an important squid importing country with over 70 000 tonnes of
squid imports expected for 2008. China
is by far the main squid exporting country to the US market, accounting for over
30% of supply. Other Asian countries, such as Thailand
and India are also
important suppliers of squid to the US market.
Sales of squid are slow on the European market at the moment and prices are
difficult to determine since catches and stocks are low. At present, the
market in Spain and Italy is
absorbing the stocks bought earlier in the year and buyers are taking their
time for new purchases.
Spain continues to be the
main supplier of squid to the Italian market, closely followed by Thailand. It
is interesting to note that Peruvian exports are declining as the country is
selling more squid to the attractive Japanese market. In addition, Peruvian
squid has been found too tough for the Italian squid market.
The Spanish squid market also declined in the first nine months of 2008,
driven downwards by lower arrivals from Argentina. As coldstorage
were still full of the 2007 arrivals, Argentine squid had difficulties to
reach the Spanish market, despite discounted prices.
Prices expected to go up
As always at this time of the year, forecasting for developments of squid
prices is difficult or impossible, as it all depends on the performance of
the South West Atlantic Fisheries, which only starts in March 2009. Squid as
a rather low priced item should not be affected too much by the financial
crisis. On the other hand, lower fuel prices will make the production of
squid less costly, probably resulting in more fishing effort and higher
outputs, provided the resource is in a normal condition, as was the case
during the past three years. Suppliers of squid are waiting and hoping that
there will be some firming of squid prices in the new year, but so far there
has been a downward drift on light volume.
