Catfish Processing Down 3 Percent from Last Year

Net pounds of processed fish sold during February 2012 totaled 14.4 million pounds, down 7 percent from the comparable month in 2011. Sales of fresh fish, at 5.19 million pounds, were down 1 percent from February 2011 and represented 36 percent of total sales. Frozen fish sales, at 9.26 million pounds, were down 10 percent from a year ago and accounted for the remaining 64 percent of total fish sales. Sales of whole fish represented 20 percent of the total fish sold, fillets accounted for 58 percent, and the remaining 22 percent were mostly steaks, nuggets, and value added products.

The total end of the month inventory decreased 6 percent from last month but was up 31 percent from a year ago. 

The total fresh and frozen average price for February 2012 was $3.50, up 47 cents from a year ago. The February 2012 average price received by processors for total fresh fish was $3.42 per pound, up 51 cents from last year. Prices for fresh whole fish were $2.44 per pound, up 38 cents from February 2011. Prices for fresh fillets were up 93 cents from a year ago at $4.68 per pound. Total frozen fish averaged $3.54 per pound, up 45 cents from February 2011. Prices for frozen whole dressed fish were up 35 cents at $2.94 and frozen fillets at $4.25 per pound were up 69 cents from a year ago.

Imports for consumption of Ictalurus spp., Pangasius spp., and other catfish of the order Siluriformes for January 2012 totaled 25.6 million pounds, up 57 percent from the amount imported in January 2011. Imports were from Cambodia, China, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Ictalurus spp. imports totaled 2.03 million pounds, which were from China.

Fresh catfish fillet exports totaled 85.2 thousand pounds, with 38.7 thousand pounds going to Canada and the rest going to the Bahamas, Barbados, Jordan, and Poland. Exports of frozen catfish fillets reported for January 2012 totaled 2.7 thousand pounds, going to the Bahamas.

 

Farm-Raised Catfish Processed and Prices Paid to Producers by Month - United States: 2011-2012
Month	Monthly			Cumulative			Price (USD/pound)
	Volume (1,000 pounds)		2012 as percent of 2011 (%)	Volume (1,000 pounds)		2012 as percent of 2011 (%)	2011	2012	Change from 2011
	2011	2012		2011	2012
1	35,076	25,843	74	35,076	25,843	74	0.931	1.248	0.317
2	27,782	26,950	97	62,858	52,793	84	1.003	1.229	0.226
3	30,372			93,230			1.075
4	23,605			116,835			1.141
5	24,749			141,584			1.169
6	24,337			165,921			1.231
7	26,595			192,516			1.252
8	30,680			223,196			1.277
9	30,271			253,467			1.275
10	32,264			285,731			1.262
11	25,814			311,545			1.257
12	22,598			334,143			1.251

 

Catfish Imports by Month – United States: 2011 - 2012
Month	Ictalurus spp.			Total
	Volume (1,000 pounds)		2012 as percent of 2011	Volume (1,000 pounds)		2012 as percent of 2011
	2011	2012		2011	2012
1	1,301	2,028	156	16,276	25,551	157
2	1,015			13,790
3	211			9,133
4	216			13,325
5	113			16,314
6	11			14,643
7	19			18,034
8	39			18,383
9	171			18,576
10	838			20,335
11	1,372			22,262
12	2,113			22,608

 

Catfish Exports by Month – United States: 2011 - 2012
Month	Fresh			Frozen
	Volume (1,000 pounds)		2012 as percent of 2011	Volume (1,000 pounds)		2012 as percent of 2011
	2011	2012		2011	2012
1	53.9	85.2	158	10.2	2.7	26
2	56.7			13.2
3	42.3			2.2
4	38.7			-
5	41			3
6	38			1.8
7	150			7.8
8	72.7			-
9	29.4			1.1
10	55.9			3.6
11	42.7			2.7
12	51.4			3.6

 

Processed Farmed-Raised Catfish Sales Volume and Average Price by Month – Unites States:  2011 - 2012
Item	Sales volume (thousand pounds)			Average price (USD/pound)
	February 2011	January 2012	February 2012	February 2011	January 2012	February 2012
Fresh fish
Whole	2,046	2,219	2,323	2.06	2.44	2.44
Round and gutted	943	1,189	1,136	1.60	1.87	1.80
Whole dressed	1,103	1,030	1,187	2.37	2.98	2.94
Other	535	473	515	1.95	2.15	2.11
Steaks	78	45	45	2.75	3.60	3.54
Nuggets	421	404	446	1.62	1.83	1.82
Other	36	24	24	4.07	4.85	4.77
Fillets	2,650	2,231	2,349	3.75	4.73	4.68
Total fresh	5,231	4,923	5,187	2.91	3.45	3.42
Frozen fish
Whole dressed	762	526	634	2.59	3.04	2.94
Other	2,738	2,830	2,644	2.06	1.95	2.09
Steaks	51	44	56	2.69	3.24	3.15
Nuggets	1,773	2,160	1,943	1.43	1.33	1.39
Other	914	626	645	3.26	4.00	4.09
Fillets	6,833	5,148	5,982	3.56	4.26	4.25
Total frozen	10,333	8,504	9,260	3.09	3.42	3.54
Fresh and frozen fish
Whole	2,808	2,745	2,957	2.20	2.56	2.54
Round and gutted	943	1,189	1,136	1.60	1.87	1.80
Whole dressed	1,865	1,556	1,821	2.46	3.00	2.94
Other	3,273	3,303	3,159	2.05	1.98	2.09
Steaks	129	89	101	2.73	3.42	3.32
Nuggets	2,194	2,564	2,389	1.47	1.41	1.47
Other	950	650	669	3.29	4.03	4.11
Fillets	9,483	7,379	8,331	3.61	4.40	4.37
Total fresh and frozen fish	15,564	13,427	14,447	3.03	3.43	3.50

 

Processed Farm-Raised Catfish Ending Inventory by Month – Unites States: 2010 - 2011
Item	Ending inventory (thousand pounds)
	February 2011	January 2012	February 2012
Fresh fish
Whole	139	131	155
Round and gutted	(D)	(D)	(D)
Whole dressed	(D)	(D)	(D)
Other	95	92	56
Steaks	(D)	(D)	(D)
Nuggets	86	86	48
Other	(D)	(D)	(D)
Fillets	362	382	316
Total fresh	596	605	527
Frozen fish
Whole dressed	830	407	372
Other	2,842	1,859	1,684
Steaks	(D)	(D)	(D)
Nuggets	2,120	1,477	1,274
Other	(D)	(D)	(D)
Fillets	4,772	9,807	9,298
Total frozen	8,444	12,073	11,354
Fresh and frozen fish
Whole	969	538	527
Round and gutted	(D)	(D)	(D)
Whole dressed	(D)	(D)	(D)
Other	2,937	1,951	1,740
Steaks	(D)	(D)	(D)
Nuggets	2,206	1,563	1,322
Other	(D)	(D)	(D)
Fillets	5,134	10,189	9,614
Total fresh and frozen fish	9,040	12,678	11,881