Tilapia fresh fillets to US hit record volumes in 2013, with prices high
You may also like:
May 15, 2014, 8:49 pm
Alicia Villegas
US imports of fresh tilapia fillets were at record levels in 2013 at a total of 59 million of pounds, up by 7.27% year-on-year, Angel Rubio, chief market analyst at Urner Barry said during the conferences at the
Aquamar International expo this year in Veracruz, Mexico.
Despite high demand, average prices remained flat to stronger last year at $4.15 per pound, due to pre-arranged sales to the same clients at similar prices.
Prices are now at $4.25 per pound, an
upward trend linked to the shift from tilapia production to shrimp in Ecuador.
As Ecuador tilapia supply of fresh fillets decreased, its market share has shrunk from 32% in 2008 to 13% in 2014 as buyers have gone to other suppliers with prices going up as a result.
Honduras,
where Regal Springs Tilapia has a large operation, has emerged now as the main supplier of fresh fillets to the US with 40% of imports, followed by Costa Rica (21%), Ecuador (13%), Colombia (12%) and Mexico (9%). Regal Springs
is also ramping up its operation in Mexico.
Whole tilapia, for its part, saw an increase of demand in 2013. Rubio was unable to precisely pinpoint what drove the heightened consumer interest, but suggested the growing Latin American community in the US could be a factor.
Frozen tilapia fillets imports — 93% coming from China — showed more volatile prices last year, although decreasing prices of shrimp from Ecuador can involve an “umbrella effect” so prices for other species could also go down now, which could be the main factor affecting seafood this year, Rubio said, citing John Sackton of
Seafood News