As we move closer and closer each week to the two-month “conservation closure” of Venezuelan crabmeat production, companies are starting to position themselves with pasteurized “backup” for that period.
Pasteurized pricing has been in a “free-fall” for most of the first half of 2022. When you think about it, this year will probably be the single biggest dollar “reset” of pasteurized prices ever. Pasteurized Indonesian jumbo lump has already fallen almost $25 per pound from its highs in the mid-’50s precisely one year ago. The market looks like it will settle in the very low $30 range this month. Could it rise slightly during the conservation period? Possibly yes. You have to remember that current crabmeat consumption is extremely high. Estimates are that Venezuela is “pumping into Miami” 100,000 lbs a week! So when all that meat goes away in August, that demand will transfer to both the pasteurized market and the fresh domestic crabmeat market. It remains to be seen where prices will go after that.
Prices are subject to change.
7/11/2022
