More octopus from Morocco

The Moroccan summer octopus fishing quota was set at 10 000 tonnes, 11% ahead of last year’s quota. Despite this quota increase, demand from Japan is expected to be low, as the T3 (2-3 kg), the preferred species for the Japanese market, is expected to be not very present in the catch. Expectations go to large sized octopus being quite prevalent in the catch, a size which has a ready market in Europe. On the other hand, it seems that supplies of T3 from Mauritania are plentiful, which further reduces the possibility of Moroccan octopus being sold to Japanese traders. All these indicators point to a substantial price decline for octopus in the coming months. On the positive side, it can be noted that the drastic measures taken by the Moroccan government some four years ago, which included long fishing stops for the whole fleet, have resulted in a recovery of the octopus resource, which now seems to be in good shape, a fact underlined by the large size of the specimens taken.


Octopus market normalizes further

As forecast, octopus prices in Japan declined in the course of the opening months of the year, especially for larger sized octopus. In return, demand was quite good, while arrivals were plentiful. Further price declines are likely to come, once the summer octopus catch from the Central Eastern Atlantic reaches the Japanese market.

Import statistics for the first four months of 2007 show the good performance of Mauritanian octopus exports when compared to Morocco. Mauritania managed to ship 55% more than in the corresponding period of 2006, overtaking Morocco as the main supplier. Even when taking into account the 2 month fishing period in Morocco this result is significant.

There is a tradition in Japan related to the start of summer. 11 days before the summer solstice, the Japanese must eat octopus in some places in Japan; as eating octopus on that day is to ask for good health. Supermarkets are giving special promotion packages for this day, and this year consumption should be very high, given the relatively low price of octopus on the market. Coldstorage holdings of octopus, however, are very low as the graph below shows. They are well below levels that can be considered as “normal” inventories at this time of the year. These figure reflect lower arrivals, 2006 was a record low year for Japanese octopus imports, while the first four months of 2007 saw a further reduction of octopus imports. The Japanese buyers have problems to compete with European traders, due to the strength of the Euro when compared with the Japanese yen. Logically prices should increase given the low inventories, but traders do not expect this to happen before autumn starts.

EU takes advantage of strong currency

Both Italy and Spain, the main markets for octopus in the EU, imported higher quantities of octopus in the opening months of 2007. Spanish imports grew by 50% while Italy imported 20% more octopus in the first quarter of the year.

The increase in Spanish imports was due to a 66% increase in Moroccan shipments, while the supply from Mauritania stayed quite stable. Due to these strong imports, Spain overtook Italy as the main market for octopus in the EU. Italian imports from Morocco also grew strongly, by more than 60%. In both markets it is interesting to note the emergence of Mexico as an important supplier of octopus, quite a novelty in the market.

In Spain, the wholesale price of large octopus was Euro 8.50/kg, Euro 0.50/kg more than last year. Smaller octopus experienced an even stronger price hike: up from Euro 3.00 to Euro 4.00/kg. These prices show that the European market does not follow the price trend set by Japan and that this market is more attractive. As the graph shows, Spanish wholesale prices have come down from last year, but show a rather positive trend in recent months, in expectation of the summer business, which is characterized by high demand.

Prices in EU have reached a plateau

Demand for octopus in Europe is expected to be good in the summer months. However, prices should have reached a plateau, and further price increases are unlikely. This is especially true with regard to the Moroccan product, becoming even more present on the market, due to the start of the summer fishing period.

By Helga Josupeit
© FAO GLOBEFISH 2007