Russia's pollock suppliers look to Africa, Latin America to offset low H&G prices

In a bid to offset price decreases for headed and gutted (H&G) Alaska pollock in China, several of Russia's pollock catchers are looking to new markets in Africa and Latin America -- and at home.

Prices for H&G Alaska pollock, delivered China, have dropped to about $1,300 (€1,160) per metric ton, from levels of $1,700 (€1,518) per metric ton at the end of 2014.

"We have sent several shipments of whole-round Alaska pollock to Nigeria,” Sergei Saksin, chairman at the Russian Far East firm Trawl Fleet Preobrazhenskaya, told IntraFish.

"But the African market is unlikely to fully replace the Chinese one for us because its capacity is limited to about 100,000 metric tons, according to our estimates."

With the EU holding a strong position in the African market, "we started with small supplies of the whole-round pollock to see how it's developing," Saksin said.

The company is also considering the opportunity of entering the Latin American market to find more stable sales channels.