December 26, 2007

US catfish production dives 12 percent

US processed 40.3 million pounds round weight of catfish during November 2007, down 12 percent from the same month last year.

The total in November records the lowest since November 1997 when 40.1 million pounds were processed.

The average price paid to producers was US$66.6 per pound for November 2007, down US$1.6 from last month and US$17.1 from last year.

Processed fish sold during November 2007 totaled 18.9 million pounds, down 3 percent on-year. Though the total month-end inventory increased 8 percent from last month, it dipped 27 percent from a year ago.

Sales of fresh fish, at 6.68 million pounds, were down 1 percent from last year and represented 35 percent of total sales. Frozen fish sales, at 12.2 million pounds, also decreased by 4 percent from a year ago and accounted for the remaining 65 percent of total fish sales. Sales of whole fish represented 18 percent of the total fish sold, fillets accounted for 60 percent, and the remaining 22 percent were mostly steaks, nuggets, and value added products.

Fresh boneless catfish fillet exports totaled 126 thousand pounds, with 81.3 thousand pounds exported to Canada and the remaining to the Bahamas and the Netherlands.

US exports of frozen, boneless catfish fillets reported for October 2007 totaled 11.8 thousand pounds, delivered to Japan and Kuwait.