Canned Salmon Sales and Price

For ease of discussion, all can sizes are converted to a single measure: 48-tall case equivalent. The 48-tall case

In terms of statewide wholesale value, canned pink salmon was the second-most valuable Alaska salmon product in calendar year 2008. Wholesale value of canned pinks was $179.7 million, a very close second to H&G frozen sockeye at $179.9 million in wholesale value.

equivalent captures production and sales volume of all four standard can sizes for canned pink and canned sockeye.

 

Discussion of canned salmon sales and price follows the ���sales season��� which begins in September of the harvest year and ends in August of the following year. This is consistent with the production season for canned salmon and with reporting periods for the Alaska Salmon Price Report. The 2009 sales season began September 1, 2009 and will end August 31, 2010.

 

The May-August 2009 ASPR completes the canned salmon data set for the 2008 sales season.

 

Canned Sockeye Sales & Price

Canned sockeye sales volume has remained steady over the last five sales seasons, between 1.07 million and 1.29 million cases. Canned sockeye sales declined to 952,000 cases for the 2008 sales season, a six-year low point.

 

After three consecutive years in the low-$60 price range, average first wholesale price per 48-half case increased to the $69-$71 range during the 2008 sales season. Average case price per 48-tall rose by a similar share, up from $96-$105 during the 2007 sales season to a range of $115-$124 in the 2008 sales season.

 

Most canned sockeye is exported, primarily to the United Kingdom and other European countries. With the dollar still relatively weak against both the British Pound and the Euro (UK uses both the Pound and the Euro), it is likely that currency exchange rates are playing at least some role in the recent growth of canned sockeye prices. However, currency exchange rates were more favorable during the 2007 sales season, when average case prices were lower. The recent growth in average wholesale price likely results from a combination of factors, including but not limited to currency exchange rates.

 

There has been no significant change in the composition of sales by can size; in the 2008 sales season, 62 percent was sold in half-pound (7.5-ounce) cans and 32 percent in tall (14.75-ounce) cans. Quarter-pound cans comprised the remaining 6 percent of standard can size sales volume.

 

The ASPR data includes a category for ���other��� thermally processed salmon products, which includes non-standard can sizes and other products. Total volume for that category was slightly under 1.7 million pounds, the equivalent of approximately 38,000 48-tall cases of canned product.

 

Canned Pink Sales & Price

Canned pink sales volume was fairly modest for the 2008 sales season, totaling 1.84 million 48-tall case equivalent, down substantially from 2007 sales season volume of 2.71 million 48-tall equivalent.

 

The sharp decline in sales volume was offset by an equally sharp increase in average wholesale case price for canned pinks. Average case price rose from the $54-$58 range in the 2007 sales season to $76 per case in the latter two periods of the 2008 sales season (January - August 2009). This represents a 20-year high point for canned pink prices, more than double the low point of just $34 per case in 2003.

 

While sales volume in the 2007 sales season was not significantly constrained by the firming of average case prices to the $54-$58 range, the current high prices appear to have dampened sales volume in the 2008 sales season. Total sales volume for the 2008 sales season was just 1.8 million cases, a full million cases below the previous five years��� average sales volume of 2.8 million.

 

The 2009 pink harvest was expected to substantially exceed its projection of 113 million fish, but instead fell short of projection at just 96 million pinks. As a result Alaska canned pink production was lower than anticipated, likely contributing to the run-up in canned pink prices.

 

As with canned sockeye, there was no significant change in the size composition of canned pink sales for the 2008 sales season; tall (14.75-ounce) cans account for approximately 80 percent of canned pink sales and halves (7.5 ounce cans) account for the remainder. There is some minor volume in sales of quarter-pound and 4-pound cans, but this amounts to less than 40,000 cases on five-year average sales of 2.8 million cases.

 

The ASPR data includes a category for ���other��� thermally processed salmon products, which includes non-standard can sizes and other products. Total pink salmon volume for that category was 2.9 million pounds, the equivalent of approximately 67,000 48-tall cases of canned product.