Prices for yellowfin tuna are on the rise again, after diving €500-€550 per metric ton to around €1,800/t earlier in June.

The average prices for delivery of brine-frozen, whole round yellowfin (10-15 kilograms) to canneries in Spain are at around €2,100/t with €2,200-€2,300/t seen coming for mid-July deliveries, sources told Undercurrent News. The drop in demand in foodservice, caused by the coronavirus pandemic, was cited as the cause. It seems slower fishing is now causing the prices to increase again. 

Industry sources are scratching their heads about the situation. 

"The blip of low prices didn’t last long for sure. Crazy," one US-based tuna sector veteran told Undercurrent. 

"The only explanation [for the situation] that really holds water is that some canners saw an oversupply of fish that was to arrive after the main summer packing season was over, so pushed the price down to €1,800-1,850 from the €2,500-2,550 of prior weeks. But then the realization hit them that there wasn’t a lot of fish on offer and so they started to scrabble to get it," he said. 

The level of €2,200-€2,300/t is expected for fish arriving in mid-July. "Often fish is sold when it’s en-route from the fishing ground to a Spanish or Italian port by carrier or container, so often a price quoted in June may not arrive until July," he said.

The yellowfin price "overcorrected, in my opinion", said an Asia-based executive with another big trader. 

"There was some good yellowfin fishing in Westpac [the western and central Pacific Ocean], plenty of offers, so the market panicked. Prices are now going back up," he said. 

Lower catches in the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean, the main supply for the EU market, is now driving the increase, said a source with a major Asian trader. 

An executive with an Asian fishing company and processor agreed. 

"It's just a simple case of supply and demand. Supply for 10kg+ yellowfin suddenly dropped," they said. "I am not sure if they are back to the price level of €2,250, but I think it is headed there," he told Undercurrent.