US Alaska Pollock Surimi B Season Marks Record-High Price Hike for Japan Shipments
- squid011
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
Japan has accepted the largest-ever price hike for U.S. Alaska pollock surimi under the 2026 B Season contracts, with prices rising 25–35% from the A Season, marking six consecutive seasonal price increases starting from the 2024 A Season.
Price rises were broadly uniform across core standard grades including Base Grade A, KA and RA, though individual suppliers adopted varying pricing adjustments for different tiers. A Tokyo-based importer noted that some processors raised prices for low-grade surimi even more steeply than premium grades, an uncommon scenario in previous contract negotiations. Talks hit an impasse at the outset; major catcher-processor vessel operators initially demanded a JPY 200 per kilogram increase for Grade A surimi before softening their asking prices during bargaining.
The newly agreed contract rates have lifted Japan’s surimi import prices to an all-time high in yen terms, with Grade A Alaska pollock surimi CFR Japan breaking JPY 700 per kilogram for the first time. Based on the settlement exchange rate of approximately JPY 160 to the U.S. dollar, this equates to around USD 4.43 per kilogram. Japanese surimi contracts are traditionally denominated in yen, with Alaska processors bearing all currency fluctuation risks.
Given the yen’s far weaker exchange rate against the U.S. dollar compared to the two previous price surges in 2008 and 2022, the B Season prices converted to U.S. dollars remain below historical peaks. During the 2008 B Season negotiations, the exchange rate stood at roughly JPY 108 per USD. That year, drastic cuts to Bering Sea pollock quotas, sluggish fishing volumes, and tight global supplies of tropical surimi pushed pollock surimi prices above fillet prices at one point. After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, both A and B Season prices also spiked sharply.
Alaska processors held strong negotiating leverage this round, supported by a confluence of multiple factors. Production statistics show Alaska’s A Season surimi output fell 10% year-on-year, while cumulative B Season production as of July 25 plummeted 41% year-on-year. A senior sales executive at an Alaska processing firm admitted that fishing vessels prioritized manufacturing PBO fillets, and smaller fish sizes this year hampered simultaneous efficient production of both fillets and surimi. Shortages for Japan-bound B Season orders are more severe than those seen in the A Season.
Global surimi supplies have tightened across the board. Multiple traders reported that Russian processors have ramped up surimi output to compete with U.S. suppliers for East Asian market share in recent years, yet this year they have shifted focus to higher-value PBO fillets and headed-and-gutted products, further squeezing worldwide surimi availability. B Season surimi block contracts for South Korea and Europe rose USD 0.75–1.00 per kilogram versus the A Season, confirming that the current price rally is not limited to Japan alone. Driven by widespread whitefish shortages, climbing fuel costs, skyrocketing Peruvian fishmeal prices and reduced cod quotas, ex-warehouse prices of Alaska pollock PBO fillets in European cold storage facilities have kept climbing, forming a firm floor for surimi pricing. Fears of tightening supply prompted some Japanese importers to lock in purchasing volumes in advance, which further amplified the scale of this round’s price increase.
New-season surimi shipments are expected to start arriving in late this month, with some cargo shipped directly to Japan and others transshipped via Busan, South Korea. Arrival volumes will peak in September before tapering off gradually after November.
Upon arrival of the new stock, major importers will pass on elevated costs to domestic Japanese surimi product manufacturers. Japan’s import tariff rate remains unchanged at 4.2%, yet the sharp jump in base contract values will push up the absolute tariff payable. As a result, price hikes charged by importers to surimi product factories may exceed the increase seen in CFR contract prices. An official from Japan’s Kamaboko Association stated that roughly 500 surimi product manufacturers are facing severely deteriorated operating conditions. Repeated raw material price hikes have dented consumer demand, and the latest surge in input costs will deliver another heavy blow to the industry.
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