The tuna market has been fairly steady the past quarter, however, there is always a lot of chatter about ‘single duty’ at the end of the year. Yes, this potential savings does exist to save a bit of money, however our view is not to make purchasing decisions solely with the idea of gaming the market. All the packers around the world are aware of the spike in business in the USA for orders placed in September/October. In many past years, there have been lower offers in November/December when business is slower for the packers which could mitigate the single duty savings!
There are a few very large packers of Light Chunk Tuna. They employ thousands of people and if business is slow, these packers tend to sell controlled quantities of Light Chunk Tuna at a loss, just to keep the production lines filled. This temporary drop in prices can be misleading.
Right now, we are in one of these drops, and Light Chunk Tuna, is generally being sold by the packers at a loss. The price of the raw material does not warrant the current pricing, so it is a good time to buy, as the chance of further declines is very small as the packers will not continue to sell at a loss, and will eventually hold the line and sell at higher prices based on their true cost and selling profitably.
Tongol:
Tongol fishing in the Western Pacific Ocean near Viet Nam and Thailand, is over for the season. It is usually a very short season. Fishing in the waters off of Indonesia for processing there is also light now. Product is available, and pricing has been steady with not much swing up or down. In our opinion, the better Tongol is coming from Viet Nam and Indonesia.
Albacore:
The fishing season for the Fall has come to an end and landings over the next few months, will be light, until the new season in April. Raw material has been pushing higher, reflecting in higher canned pricing. Buying has been slow by world wide importers which has created a little softness, but pricing is still higher than the summer.
Pouch Tuna:
The only form that pouch tuna comes in is flake, as it is impossible to pack chunk or solid in a pouch, without brine! Flakes are the lowest cost of Solid, and Chunks. The drained weight of a 1.2 kg (43 oz.) pouch of tuna is about the same as a can. Pouches are great for manufacturers because there is no brine to drain off, and disposing of empty pouches is much more economical than empty cans! Pouch packing methods are a bit more expensive than cans, but using flakes sometimes equalizes the cost difference!