Bream prices are already under pressure to go down due to seasonal contraction. On the contrary the prices of seabass are slightly up, but remain somewhat lower than for bream, a rather unusual phenomenon. In this respect, the large volumes of small-size fish around 300 grams now reaching the Italian market from Greece, is certainly a signal of caution as the lower yields will severely hurt producers’ margins.
Experts said that the supplies will increase in the next couple of months and, although domestic demand is increasing in Greece and Turkey helped by tourism, the overall increase in net supply will lead prices to weaken over the next few months. In general, the market situation in Europe is mixed. Italy, the largest consuming and importing country, reported 10 percent higher import volumes in the first quarter of 2010 with values up 16 percent. Spain on the other hand, saw a sharp drop in imports with volumes down 17 percent and values declining by 13 percent.
Most producing countries expect lower production volumes in 2010 and possibly also in 2011. This includes both the largest suppliers, Greece and Turkey, but also Spain as well. The result should be a tighter market over the coming months, especially from September onwards when demand is back to normal after the summer months.
Russia become one of the most promising and upcoming markets for bass and bream. La Maree, a leading Moscow based importer of fresh fish and fishery products, said that while only a few years ago the species were regarded as exotic, they are now seen as a “commodity fish species”. There are several reasons for this change in attitudes. The most important is improved logistics and distribution.
