Russian fishers holding down prices despite higher fuel costs - Association

MOSCOW. Oct 9 (Interfax) - Russian fishing companies, like businesses in other sectors, foremost farming, have faced a steep increase in fuel prices, but they are to a large extent absorbing the higher costs rather than completely offsetting them by raising fish prices, the Fishery Shipowners Association (FSA) concluded based on a study of the price situation in the sector.

Prices for ship fuel have risen in all of Russia's main ports, most significantly in the Far East, which accounts for more than 70% of the country's fish catch, the price report said. In Vladivostok, prices for ship fuel oil were up 80% year-on-year by August. This type of fuel has accounted for three quarters of the bunkering market in the Far East this year.

Prices for diesel fuel rose by a more modest 6%. The average increase in the cost of ship fuel taking into account the structure of consumption in the Far East was 31%. Prices continued to climb in all the main ports in September, going up as much as 30% compared to August.

Some 80% of fishing in Russia is done in distant waters, meaning long voyages to fishing grounds and corresponding fuel expenditures, the report said. "As a result, the share of ship fuel in the cost of products reaches 30%, which makes it the most important component of pricing for fish products," the report said.

The growth of fuel costs, along with other factors, led to a 15% increase in production costs for fishing companies in the first half of 2023, but the average producer price for frozen fish rose by only 6% in this period, the report said.