Undercurrent News
By Matilde Mereghetti
VIGO, Spain — Octopus prices have dropped in recent months, amid slower purchases in Spain, industry sources at the Conxemar show told Undercurrent News.
Octopus prices touched a record high last year, with the larger sizes rising above €15 ($16.46) per kilogram at the end of summer 2018. But this year they have progressively dropped, with the larger size dropping to below €10/kg. The price crash continued during the latest fishing season in Morocco, which ended on Sept.17 and is an important reference for the species.
“During the last weeks of the fishing season in Morocco [August/September], prices fell €0.50/kg per week,” a source at a medium-size firm with an octopus processing plant in northern Spain told Undercurrent at the Vigo show. “Prices dropped over €6/kg since Conxemar 2018,” he added.
Sources said the drop in prices which occurred in recent months was driven by the fact that Spanish firms specialized in the products already had unsold stocks.
“Prices are now stable. A lot of companies in Spain sit on large stocks,” one source at a Moroccan processor told Undercurrent, pointing out that companies with stocks did not want to sell at a price lower than they paid for the product, resulting in losses.
Octopus prices dropped about 50% this year, said Igor Chematinov, project manager at Portuguese octopus processor Soguima, noting that prices for a product of 3-4kg fell from €10-11/kg last November to about €5-6/kg at the beginning of this year. The firm sources octopus from Portuguese waters and from Mozambique.
The larger sizes, between T1 and T4, are the ones that lost the most value, the Moroccan source noted. “T3 in Spain — frozen on land — dropped to €8.50/kg,” he said, adding that the last fishing season in Morocco started with “low prices” that “remained low”.
“Japanese customers were paying T6 $9,300 per metric ton, but the price has now dropped to $8,500/t,” the latter source also said.
Octopus at Conxemar 2019
Octopus prices touched a record high last year, with the largest size reaching a high of €17-17.50/kg around August/September 2018, a third source said. But they have since dropped, with the largest size dropping to below €10/kg, he added.
A fourth source pointed out that the highest quality of octopus, from Morocco, was still expensive. But because of the huge price rise last year and the year before, octopus from other origins — such as Mauritania, Senegal, and others, at lower quality — had arrived on the market, contributing to the price bearishness.
Moreover, because of the price drop, some Spanish buyers preferred to reduce their purchasing, which also caused a drop in price.
What’s next
Last year’s price highs caused many restaurants to replace the product with other seafood dishes. Low catches in Morocco also contributed to boost prices in recent years, but this year demand has dropped.
At the Conxemar show, companies specializing in octopus told Undercurrent that lower prices were going to allow demand to grow back, as it would probably convince restaurants to reintroduce the product to menus.
Some sources were confident that prices could not fall further, considering the current level was below costs, but others were not so sure. A factor that could impact prices is the announcement of the start date and quota for the upcoming Moroccan winter season. If this season is pushed to mid-December or even the beginning of January, it could support prices as it would ensure that buyers in Europe and the US looking for supply for the Christmas holidays could not buy volumes caught from the new season.
Contact the author matilde.mereghetti@undercurrentnews.com
