Global prawn prices have continued to rise due to a squeeze on supply, prompting some in the industry to warn of a mounting crisis.
According to research out today (5 November) from data firm Mintec, the price of prawn’s from Thailand – the world’s largest exporter – increased for the tenth month straight in October.
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“The price of Thai prawns has increased sharply since the beginning of 2013. Prawn production in Thailand, the world’s largest exporter, has fallen to 90,000 tonnes in the first half of 2013, compared to its usual output of around 200,000 tonnes,” Mintec said in its fish market index.
Thai prawn production has been impacted by an outbreak of Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS). While the disease initially hit the prawn population, the supply shortage has been exasperated because some producers have decided not to restock to avoid further losses.
The knock-on effect has seen prawn prices rise across the board. Northern coldwater prawn prices have rises 12% and king prawn prices have increased 36%, Mintec revealed in October.
Speaking to just-food last month at the Anuga trade show, Fisherman’s Choice sales manager Michiel van Zijp said that securing prawn supply was a “growing concern” for seafood companies.
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By GlobalData“Prices have risen by more than 30% in a few months,” Zijp said. “This has damaged profits. Higher wholesale prices will feed through to customers. We are starting to see this. But, when prices rise so much this quickly, it is not easy to pass this along.”
Fisherman’s Choice supplies shrimp products, including battered and breaded prawns, into retail and foodservice channels. Securing supply of raw prawns is “getting tougher”, Zijp conceded.
Nordic Seafood representative Franz Konig is less concerned. Because it is an industry-wide issue, Konig suggests that price rises are achievable. “This is the whole industry. If it was an issue just for me, it would be a worry.”
Lower supplies are something that is likely to shape the industry “for years”, Zijp added, because even when the waters are disease-free, restocking “takes time”.
