Agriculture & Food

Customs data shows that in the first quarter of this year, the United States imported 5663 tons of snow crabs (including 4027 tons of Canadian snow crabs), a year-on-year increase of 107%, with an import value of 93 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 16%. In March alone, customs data showed that the import volume of snow crabs from the United States reached 2694 tons, a year-on-year increase of 393%, with an import value of 24.9 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 136%.

Les Hodges, a North American crab trade expert, believes that although it is not yet clear whether these snow crabs have entered the retail and catering industries, or have been stockpiled by importers, in any case, the import volume of the United States from Canada will continue to rise. According to customs data, firstly, last June, the United States implemented an import ban on Russian seafood, which means that 30% of the market demand needs to be filled; In addition, Canada's quota has increased by about 8% compared to last year, indicating a larger supply.

This year, the United States still imported some of Canada's inventory from last year. The quota for St. Lawrence Bay this year was 31353 tons, and as of May 2nd, the quota completion rate exceeded 50%. The quota for Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) was 54717 tons, and the production season will end on June 30th.

Due to the increase in snow crab quotas, the total quota for Canada, Norway, and Russia this year will exceed 160000 tons, the highest in nearly a decade. As a result, prices remain low to promote retail demand. A large portion of consumers in North America are concerned about the economic situation, which is affecting their purchasing decisions, leading to a decrease in demand for high-quality seafood such as snow crabs and king crabs, "Hodges said, As for snow crabs, many retailers and catering operators have inventory in their hands for 2022. Customs data shows that prices have gradually increased at a very low level this year, with Canadian snow crabs imported from the United States experiencing a significant increase in March. The situation is similar in Norway and Iceland

According to Urner Barry (UB), on May 4th, the price of 5-8 pounds of frozen snow crabs from NL production areas was $4.65-4.85/lb, a decrease of 3-5% from a week ago and the lowest price since the pandemic in three years. In 2021, the price was as high as $16.80/lb.

Prices must remain reasonable in order to establish a market, "Hodges told UCN

On the other hand, due to European and American sanctions, Russian snow crabs and king crabs have shifted to Asian countries. Since the beginning of this year, Russia has exported over 23000 tons of crab products to Asia. According to customs data, as of April 26, there were still 52 fishing and processing vessels in the Russian Far East, 54% of which were sold to the fresh market in China and South Korea, 21% to the frozen market in Japan, and 25% to the cooked crab products in China, Japan and South Korea.

On the contrary, prices in China have rebounded, with live snow crabs (known as plate crabs in the domestic market) reaching $18/kg; prices in South Korea reaching $23/kg. The expected price for live gold king crabs arriving in China is $25-26/kg, which is about half of the price for live blue king crabs. Hodges said that there are still some Russian stocks in the US market, and it is not clear how long it will take to fully digest them.