The China Aquatic Channel reported that at present, the price of the US yellowfin sole has risen sharply, boosted by strong demand in China.
According to dealers, the price of gold flounder purchased by Chinese processing plants is about 1750 US dollars per ton, which is a significant increase compared with the average price of 1450 US dollars / ton, and the price was about 1650 US dollars per ton at the beginning of this year. And it's not just the golden flounder, all the major flounder caught in Alaska, such as rock flounder and phyllonory, have seen their average prices rise by 7%-8%.
However, the supply of fishing varies from region to region, with some areas having slightly lower than last year and others the other. For this discrepancy, the explanation given by the National Marine Fisheries Service is that the initial catch of this year's fishing season is slightly higher, but the overall catch is currently lower.
Specifically, as of April 22, the gold flounder catch in the Bering Sea and aleutian Islands was 39,631 tonnes, 5.6% higher than in 2016; but the momentum soon shifted, with catches of 40,204 tonnes by 30 April, down 3% from the same period last year.
Overall, however, this year's golden flounder catch is expected to be better than in previous years, with quotas increasing to 154,000 tonnes, an increase of 7% compared to last year.
At the beginning of this season, China's domestic processing plant gold flounder inventory is low, even if the new season is well-fished, but the supply recovery is not enough, so in the context of strong demand, the price will rise is not unexpected.
At present, the price of gold flounder has stabilized, and the exporters have stated that they will not further raise the price to prevent sales stagnation and price collapse caused by limited market acceptance.
With the increasing import of Chinese imports, the global flounder market has begun to undergo some changes, and even in the future, the Chinese market will play a vital role in the global flounder market.
A U.S. trader said that products like golden flounder were mostly used for domestic sales, and few were exported to foreign factories for processing or re-export. Now that chinese processing plants are importing more and more flounder species and quantities, many U.S. exporters have included golden flounder in the list of export commodities. Gradually, the golden flounder also began to appear on the table of Chinese consumers.