Southeast Pacific and Southwest Atlantic squid prices continue to rise with active market trading

In week 24 (June 7 to June 13), squid prices in the Southeast Pacific and Southwest Atlantic (offline) continued to rise, but at a slower rate. While Southwest Atlantic (offline) large size squid prices saw a downward revision, Northwest Pacific and Indian Ocean squid prices remained stable.

Squid supply in the Southeast Pacific did not improve significantly, and prices continued to rise but at a slower rate. Prices of small and large raw strips rose to RMB 18,500-19,000 per ton and RMB 13,000-14,000 per ton, respectively. Prices of large head and extra small raw bars increased to RMB 14,500-14,800/ton and RMB 18,500-19,000/ton. Prices of medium raw strips and carcasses rose to RMB 15,500-16,000/ton and RMB 13,000-14,000/ton, respectively. However, the prices of slices and tail tips fell back to RMB 12,000-12500/mt and RMB 9,000-10,000/mt, respectively.

Last week, the volume of Southeast Pacific squid traded through the "Ocean Cloud+" platform of Zhejiang Zhoushan International Agricultural Products Trade Center reached 4,099 tons, up 75 percent from the previous week. The average transaction price was about RMB 13,895 per ton, up 3.6% from the previous week. Despite the increase in trading volume, the volume of traded orders was still dominated by small orders, with the largest volume of slices at 963 tons and an average settlement price of RMB 12,000 per ton.

Prices of different sizes of Southwest Atlantic (offline) squid varied. Prices of small-size (less than 150 grams) and 400-600 grams squid rose to RMB 32,500-34,000/ton and RMB 32,000-33,000/ton, respectively. While the price of squid of 200-300 grams and 300-400 grams fell to 31,000-33,000 yuan/ton and 31,500-33,000 yuan/ton respectively. The price of squid larger than 600 grams was lowered to RMB 32,000-34,000/mt.

The fishing season in Argentina's EEZ is coming to an end and most of the offline fleet has been withdrawn, the supply of squid in the Southwest Atlantic production area is gradually decreasing, and the price is expected to remain relatively stable in the short term. Last week, the trading volume of Southwest Atlantic squid on the "Ocean Cloud+" platform of Zhejiang Zhoushan International Agricultural Products Trade Center was 299 tons, with an average transaction price of about RMB 31,460 per ton.

Northwest Pacific squid, due to low production, price fluctuation is small, the offer is the same as the previous week. As for Indian Ocean squid, except for the price of squid of 300-500 grams rose slightly by RMB 400/ton and the price of squid of 500-1000 grams fell by RMB 750/ton, the price of other specifications remained stable.

Overall, squid prices in the Southeast Pacific and Southwest Atlantic continue to be high, with the possibility of further increases in the future. However, traders need to do a good job of risk control while chasing the rise, pay close attention to market dynamics and adjust their strategies in time to cope with market changes.