18 Dec 2024 13:20

Russian domestic prices for red caviar could drop 10% after New Year - fish union

MOSCOW. Dec 18 (Interfax) - Russian domestic prices for red caviar [salmon roe] have recently declined after rising sharply in the autumn owing to a reduction in salmon catches, and prices could drop another 10% after the New Year, Fish Union chairman Alexander Panin forecasts.

"One may already find pink salmon caviar [the most common type of salmon roe] on the market for 10,500 rubles per kg, as well as for 8,500-9,000 rubles. The price should gradually decline after the New Year. I would definitely bet that the price should decrease 10 percent," Panin said at a briefing.

Panin said that there is more than enough caviar on the market. Demand has dropped owing to the high prices compared to last year, when a kilogram of red caviar cost 6,000-8,000 rubles. The price has soared to 13,000 rubles this year.

"In my opinion, traders have done a great job, warmed up the market and gradually raised prices. However, prices had overheated by mid-November in the end, and then there was a retreat. Prices were already fluctuating between 9,500 and 11,500 rubles per kg last week, depending on the type. There are definitely no prices at 13,000 rubles anymore, even for the most ideal caviar," Panin said.

Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) data indicate that prices for red caviar rose 12.6% in September, 11.8% in October, and slowed to 5.4% in November.

Panin emphasized that "there should definitely not be a shortage of caviar, and it should remain for the post-New Year period and last until Maslenitsa."

Panin recalled that caviar production totaled 25,000 tonnes last year. "This is really too much," he said. Russia exported 9,000 tonnes of the volume. "All the same, 16,000 tonnes remained on the domestic market. We do not eat this much," he noted.

Red caviar production is projected at 10,000-11,000 tonnes this year.

As reported, salmon catches have dropped to 235,500 tonnes this year from 608,100 tonnes in 2023. However, salmon catches are traditionally compared between even and odd years owing to the lifecycle of pink salmon. Consequently, the current year's result should be compared with the 2022 catch, when 272,000 tonnes of salmon were caught.