South Africa’s largest hake exporter, Irvin and Johnson (I&J), reported a decline in the demand for hake due largely to the economy, yet remained unsure why pollock quota cuts failed to cause an upturn in prices.
“I think EU demand is softer than before because of the economic situation in the world. It’s not on everything; there are certain products where one sees a change, but others not,” Suleiman Salie, operations director at I&J, told IntraFish.
The drop in demand may well be due to companies taking on less inventory, due to difficulties obtaining sufficient credit insurance on customers to allow large advance purchases, Salie said.
Francois
