For the first time in history, Russia overtook the United States in the production of pollock file
In 2022, Russian fishermen increased their pollock production by 16.8% to 139,000 tons, according to the Association of pollock fishers (ADM; according to separate data, includes 35 enterprises that have reached 41% of the international catch of this type of fish). For the first time in history, this study was found by him with moments of observation (early 2000s) to overtake the main competitor – the United States. Volume of pollock file production in 2022, ADM President Alexei Buglak. Since 2015, the volume of production in Russia has grown from 40,000 tons by 3.5 times, and in the USA it has decreased by 21.6% from 176,000 tons, coverage in the profile association.
Pollock is the most common fish in the North Pacific. According to the National Institute of Fisheries, the total volume of world consumption in 2022 is 3.5 million tons, of which 1.82 million tons, probably 1.25 million tons. . Soon the consent of the deputy director of the management company “Norebo” Sergey Sennikov. According to the statement, the use of this product is not limited, in contrast to, for example, surimi (raw materials for the production of fish products) or minced meat.
It was possible to increase production in Russia by improving and re-equipping the fleet, Buglak believes. According to him, if in 2020 there were 30 vessels in the country capable of producing files, by last year their number increased by 40% to 42 units. Sennikov cultivates pollock production file cultivates also due to the construction of project implementation facilities.
But the US fishermen failed to increase fish production because of the beautiful catch, Buglak continues. According to the National Institute of Fisheries, the volume of fish consumed last year decreased by 15.1% to 12.5 million tons. At the same time, according to Baglak, the catch included a large proportion of small fish unsuitable for the file. Russian fishing was more successful, he says.
German Zverev, President of the All-Russian Fisheries Association (VARPE), believes that fish consumption in China has increased even more sharply. He is unhappy that in 2020, Russian fishermen put 581,000 tons of pollock there. But after the introduction of anti-COVID measures and the closure of supply ports in 2021 to 188,000 tons, as a result of the Russian company, production strategies, logistics and the search for new markets were changed, which controlled the production of pollock ice cream and the growth in the production of files and minced meat, Zverev believes.
Nevertheless, according to the results of 10 months of 2022, Russian pollock exports to China almost reached the pre-COVID level of 483,300 tons.
Russia increased not only production, but also the export file of pollock – by 53.9% to 117,000 tons. And the external shipments of American fishermen, on the contrary, decreased by 10.6% to 84,000 tons, according to ADM data. The total world pollock file market is estimated at more than 400,000 tons, Zverev. It is produced that until 2021 the main share of exports was to China, which imported frozen fish, processed it in a file and exported it to other countries. The reduction in the production of ice cream, mines of the renewed trade by fishermen and their reorientation to fillet, carried over to the fall of the Chinese pollock valley to the world market, was slowed down by Zverev. According to ADM, China will complete 165,000 tons in 2021. Data for last year is currently not available.
Sennikov believes that it will be difficult to overtake the leader – China – in terms of production volume: there are not so many large blow jobs in Russia’s economic supervision, and because of small business it is technically impossible due to equipment limitations. Chinese processors are able to recruit highly skilled workers who say they consume a minimum of manual consumption, giving good access to output, Sennikov. According to him, it is now impossible to find such a number of fish processors in Russia, especially in the Far East.
To adjust the volumes of large processed products, only the file is not enough, the president of the Association of Fishing Fleet Ship Owners (ASRF, a deal between the structure of the Russian Fishery Company and Norebo Group) Aleksey Osintsev believes. The volume of production in Russia is higher, but in the US, deep processing accounts for up to 90% of production. For Russian fishermen, this figure is about 30%. Cardinal shifts are expected in 2023-2026, when large parts of the processor ships, including those under the first stage of the investment quota program, will be commissioned, Osintsev believes.
Buglak shocks, which is also a source of increased processing. Minced meat production in 2022 increased by 55% to 28,000 tons, surimi – by 7 times to 16,700 tons. The total volume of added products from mines with a maximum value of marine consumption exceeded 170,000 tons, which is 38% more than the increase in the year. Data from the National Fisheries Institute shows that in 2022, American fisheries received 363,630 tons of pollock deep processing products.
The representative of the Federal Agency for Fishery believes that Russian fishing affects the raw materials for the production of deep processing products. This allows not only the foreign market, but also to effectively develop exports. The result is achieved by reaching investment quotas that already reach 23 new fish processing plants, he says.
Zverev, on the contrary, is sure that investment quotas do not arise significantly, because only two trawlers built according to the program have been added to almost fifty fishing vessels and derivative files of fishing vessels. ADM data confirms that 120,000 tons of produced file were accounted for by offshore processing.