Alaska Salmon Price and Production Reports

 

 

September - December 2009 Alaska Salmon Price Report

The Alaska Salmon Price Report (ASPR) covers wholesale volume and first wholesale value, by species and area, for six key Alaska salmon products. It is the primary data source for most of the salmon market analysis published by the Seafood Market Information Service. The report as published by Department of Revenue is specific to area but is summarized into statewide totals here.

Total wholesale value for the September - December period was down 9 percent, from $437 million in 2008 to $398 million in 2009.

The value decline is primarily from a major drop in salmon roe prices. Despite similar sales volume for the period, total wholesale value of roe products dropped by half in 2009, from $124 million to $61 million. Species unit values were down 30 - 52 percent. Salmon roe values of 2008 represent a market-driven spike and the price declines of 2009 reflect a return to more typical levels.

Gains in frozen H&G value offset some of the roe value decline. Total H&G frozen wholesale value for September - December 2009 was $147 million, up from $128 million for the same period in 2008. Both chum and sockeye showed significant value improvement for the period; chums up 9 percent from $1.17 to $1.28 per pound and sockeye up from $2.52 to $2.74 per pound.

Wholesale value of canned salmon was down slightly for the period, from $140 million in 2008 to $133 million in 2009. Average case price for 48-tall canned pinks remained at a 20-year high point (over $75 per case) on slightly lower sales volume. Average case price for 48-half canned sockeye was down from the low-$70 range to $65 per case, also on slightly lower sales volume.

Frozen fillet sales volume and price both showed improvement for the September - December period. Sales volume was up from 7.8 million pounds in 2008 to 9.6 million pounds in 2009 and average price increase from $4.48 to $4.85 per pound. Average wholesale price for sockeye fillets increased to $5.23 per pound, marking the first time that product has reached the $5/lb benchmark.

 

2009 Salmon Production Report

Alaska Department of Revenue published the annual Alaska Salmon Production Report in March. The report covers the same products detailed in the Alaska Salmon Price Report (ASPR) and is useful for making canned salmon inventory estimates and for identifying broad trends in Alaska salmon production. Like the ASPR, reporting threshold is one million pounds.

We have included a total of six years in this [very large] table, with the intention of covering an equal number of odd and even-numbered years for pink salmon.

Significant findings from the production report data:

• Canned salmon as a share of total salmon production declined significantly between 2004 and 2009, from 41 percent to 30 percent. However, this can be partially attributed to declining pink salmon harvest volume.
• The pink salmon product-form shift from canned to frozen appears to have stabilized with canned share of production in the mid-50-percent range.
• Canned sockeye as a share of total sockeye production has declined steadily for four years, from 32 percent in 2006 to 26 percent in 2009. This is likely a genuine product-form shift, as sockeye harvest volume was stable during that period.
• Total fresh H&G production is down substantially, from the peak of 44 million pounds in 2007 to 27 million pounds in 2009.
• In the frozen fillet product form, sockeye shows the greatest percentage of growth and the best stability of product-form growth. Frozen sockeye fillet production increased from 4 million to 16 million pounds between 2004 and 2009 and is the only species to show consistent growth across the period.
• Production of fresh fillets has never exceeded one percent of total production volume.