At the recent surimi forum in Japan, held at the end of August, representatives from different producing regions estimated total supplies for 2013.
Dr. Pascal Guenneugues, President of Future Seafood in France, gave a summary as follows:
Pollock: 220,000 tons; Pacific Whiting: 20,000 tons; Southern blue whiting / hoki : 10,000 tons; Blue Whiting: 4,000 tons;
Tropical fish (bream etc): 503,000 tons; sardine surimi: 1000 tons
The represents a 7% decrease from 2012's estimated producton which was 850,000 tons.
Some participants at the meeting estimated that supplies would tighten in 2014, as carry over inventories are depleted. Demand for surimi is growing 10% per year in Asia, but at the same time production from Thailand, India, Vietnam and China was forecast to decline. The reason is the increasing constraints of stock management, plus higher manufacturing and fuel costs, which have not kept pace with the slow uptick in surimi prices.