Less fishmeal in world market leads to record high fishmeal prices

Peru's fishmeal production for 2010 has been estimated at 1.40 million tonnes, about the same as 2009, while exports are expected to decline slightly to 1.3 million tonnes. There is a great deal of uncertainty in Peru about the final figure for the fishing quota for next season, which will begin in late April or early May. It is speculated that the quota may be reduced by about 500,000 tonnes compared with the 2009 quota, which will result in lower availablity of about 125 000 tonnes of fishmeal in the market. A stronger than expected El Niño is likely to impact the anchovy resource, resulting in a lower quota this year. [Read complete Globefish Fishmeal Market Report - March 2010]