US farm-raised catfish processed during July 2008 reached 41.8 million pounds round weight, up 7 percent on-year.

Average price paid to producers was 81.8 cents per pound, up 2.4 cents from June and 5.6 cents above July 2007.

Processed fish sold during July 2008 totalled 20.8 pounds, up 2 percent on-year. End of the month inventory rose 7 percent from June and increased 2 percent from a year ago.

Sales of fresh fish at 7.05 million pounds declined 3 percent on-year and represented 34 percent of total sales. Frozen fish sales at 13.8 million pounds increased 5 percent on-year and accounted for the remaining 66 percent of total sales. Of total fish sold, whole fish represented 16 percent; fillets 61 percent; and 23 percent goes to an assortment of steaks, nuggets and value-added products.

Average price paid to processors for total fresh fish in July was US$2.55 per pound, up 2 cents on-year. Prices for fresh whole fish decreased 6 cents on-year to US$1.67 per pound while prices for fresh fillets climbed 6 percent on-year to US$3.24 per pound. Total frozen fish averaged US$2.46 per pound, a drop of 2 cents from July 2007. Prices for frozen whole dressed fish fell 1 cent to US$2.18 and frozen fillets increased 1 cent on-year to US$2.94 per pound.

The US imported a total of 11.3 million pounds of catfish of the order Siluriformes in June 2008. Exports of fresh boneless catfish fillet totalled 71,000 pounds, with 56,800 pounds going to Canada and the rest to Italy, the Netherlands and Nigeria. Frozen boneless catfish fillet exports totalled 10,900 pounds, all of which are shipped to Kuwait.