Aq 1 (8-05)
Catfish
Processing
National Agricultural Statistics Service
USDA
Washington, D.C.
Released August 22, 2005, by the National Agricultural Statistics
Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of
Agriculture. For information on Catfish Processing call Mike
Barker at 202-720-3243, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET.
Catfish Processing Down 7 Percent
Farm-raised catfish processed during July 2005 totaled 47.2 million
pounds round weight, down 7 percent from July 2004. The average
price paid to producers was 72.3 cents per pound for July 2005, up
0.2 cent from last month and 4.1 cents above a year ago.
Net pounds of processed fish sold during July 2005 totaled 23.7
million pounds, down 4 percent from the comparable month in 2004.
Total end of the month inventory increased 2 percent from last
month and was up 8 percent from a year ago. Sales of fresh fish,
at 8.50 million pounds, were down 12 percent from July 2004 and
represented 36 percent of total sales. Frozen fish sales, at
15.2 million pounds, were up 1 percent from a year ago and
accounted for the remaining 64 percent of total fish sales. Sales
of whole fish represented 16 percent of the total fish sold,
fillets accounted for 60 percent, and the remaining 24 percent were
mostly steaks, nuggets, and value added products.
The July 2005 average price received by processors for total fresh
fish was $2.30 per pound, an increase of 5 cents from last year.
Prices for fresh whole fish were $1.58 per pound, up 1 cent from
last year. Prices for fresh fillets were up 11 cents at $2.84 per
pound. Total frozen fish averaged $2.27 per pound, down 2 cents
from July 2004. Prices for frozen whole fish were up 5 cents
at $2.00, and frozen fillets at $2.70 per pound were up 5 cents
from a year ago.
Freshwater imports of frozen, boneless, Ictalurus, Pangasius and
Siluriformes catfish fillets for June 2005 totaled 2.54 million
pounds, substantially above last year. Sixty-nine percent of all
imports were from Vietnam with the remainder coming from Brazil,
Cambodia, and China. The Ictalurus (channel catfish) imports
totaled 171 thousand pounds.
Exports of frozen, boneless catfish fillets reported for June 2005
totaled 10.1 thousand pounds, all of which went to Canada. Fresh
fillet exports totaled 93.7 thousand pounds, with 48.1 thousand
pounds going to Canada and the rest to Mexico, Japan and the United
Kingdom.
Import and export data are compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Census.
Farm-Raised Catfish: Quantity Processed by Major Processors,
United States, 2004-2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Round Weight Processed :
:-----------------------------------------------------------: Percent
Month : Monthly :Percent of : Cumulative : of
:-----------------------: Previous :-----------------------: Previous
: 2004 : 2005 : Year : 2004 : 2005 : Year
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: -- 1,000 Pounds -- Percent --- 1,000 Pounds -- Percent
:
Jan : 53,849 53,856 100 53,849 53,856 100
Feb : 54,173 51,720 95 108,022 105,576 98
Mar : 60,272 57,117 95 168,294 162,693 97
Apr : 53,896 50,306 93 222,190 212,999 96
May : 52,324 51,552 99 274,514 264,551 96
Jun : 50,155 49,626 99 324,669 314,177 97
Jul : 51,055 47,241 93 375,724 361,418 96
Aug : 53,295 429,019
Sep : 51,329 480,348
Oct : 52,396 532,744
Nov : 49,536 582,280
Dec : 48,170 630,450
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Farm-Raised Catfish: Prices Paid to Producers by Processors
and Imports, United States, 2004-2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Price per : Change : : Percent
Month : Pound 1/ : from : Imports 2/ : of
:-----------------------: Previous :-----------------------: Previous
: 2004 : 2005 : Year : 2004 : 2005 : Year
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: ---- Dollars ---- Dollars 1,000 Pounds Percent
:
Jan : 0.668 0.725 0.057 215 1,383 643
Feb : 0.703 0.731 0.028 204 1,230 603
Mar : 0.723 0.733 0.010 295 1,161 394
Apr : 0.728 0.725 -0.003 328 2,198 670
May : 0.720 0.722 0.002 248 2,695 1,087
Jun : 0.689 0.721 0.032 270 2,538 940
Jul : 0.682 0.723 0.041 123
Aug : 0.683 1,637
Sep : 0.683 1,801
Oct : 0.695 1,104
Nov : 0.689 1,579
Dec : 0.690 1,420
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/ Price for fish delivered to the processing plant door. Price includes
charges for any services provided by the processing plant, such as seining
and hauling, but does not include adjustments based on year-end settlements.
2/ Pounds of frozen boneless fillets. Includes Ictalurus, Pangasius and
Silurformes catfish. Data furnished by U.S. Bureau of Census.
Catfish Processors: Sales Volume, Average Price, and Ending
Inventory, United States, July 2004-2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Sales : Average : Ending
: Volume : Price : Inventory
Item :---------------------------------------------------------
: 2004 : 2005 : 2004 : 2005 : 2004 : 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: 1,000 Pounds Dollars per Pound 1,000 Pounds
:
Fresh Fish :
Whole :
Round & Gutted : 905 1,282 1.03 1.20 * *
Whole Dressed : 1,970 1,404 1.79 1.86 * *
Total : 2,875 2,686 1.57 1.58 162 146
:
Other :
Steaks : 116 95 2.07 2.14 * *
Nuggets : 873 779 1.26 1.28 100 103
Other 1/ : 192 223 2.97 3.06 * *
Total : 1,181 1,097 1.62 1.72 130 117
:
Fillets 2/ : 5,559 4,714 2.73 2.84 540 482
:
Total Fresh : 9,615 8,497 2.25 2.30 832 745
:
Frozen Fish :
Whole Dressed : 1,100 1,021 1.95 2.00 1,060 739
:
Other :
Steaks : 102 106 1.95 2.02 54 104
Nuggets : 2,724 3,048 0.93 0.89 2,499 2,351
Other 1/ : 1,246 1,494 2.72 2.55 824 909
Total : 4,072 4,648 1.50 1.45 3,377 3,364
:
Fillets 2/ : 9,836 9,563 2.65 2.70 6,610 8,019
:
Total Frozen : 15,008 15,232 2.29 2.27 11,047 12,122
:
Fresh & Frozen Fish :
Whole :
Round & Gutted : 905 1,282 1.03 1.20 * *
Whole Dressed : 3,070 2,425 1.85 1.92 * *
Total : 3,975 3,707 1.68 1.70 1,222 885
:
Other :
Steaks : 218 201 2.01 2.08 * *
Nuggets : 3,597 3,827 1.01 0.97 2,599 2,454
Other 1/ : 1,438 1,717 2.75 2.62 * *
Total : 5,253 5,745 1.53 1.50 3,507 3,481
:
Fillets 2/ : 15,395 14,277 2.68 2.75 7,150 8,501
:
Total Fresh & Frozen : 24,623 23,729 2.27 2.28 11,879 12,867
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Not published to avoid disclosure of individual operations.
1/ Includes all products not already reported including weight of breading
and added ingredients.
2/ Includes regular, shank, and strip fillets; excludes any breaded
products.
Catfish Processing Estimates
Survey Procedures: Survey data for catfish processing are
collected from approximately 21 processors. All participating
processors must meet the minimum criteria of having a capacity to
process at least 2,000 pounds live weight of catfish per 8-hour
shift. The survey is conducted entirely by NASS Headquarter's
staff in Washington, D.C. NASS field offices, however, are
responsible for keeping Headquarters informed of any new processing
operations in their state to ensure that the survey coverage is as
complete as possible. Processors are contacted either by mail or
telephone. Diligent effort is made to ensure that all operations
are accounted for in the estimate.
Estimation Procedures: The "Catfish Processing" report refers
strictly to farm-raised fish and excludes wild capture fish. Prior
to summarization, questionnaires are compared with the previous
month's reports for comparable placement of data, reasonable price
levels, and reasonable inventory carryover given the sales and
processing totals reported. Estimates are made for those
processors whose reports are not available in time to be included
in the release. These plants are identified by an asterisk on page
5 of this release. Estimates are normally based on the processor's
previous report and current conditions. Published totals are a
straight summation of the individual reports and estimated data.
Price items are weighted by the associated volumes to compute
weighted average prices. The published price for total whole fish,
however, reflects an adjustment to the round and gutted only price
to bring it to an equivalent dressed weight price.
If a plant uses a fiscal accounting system, proration is used to
convert reported data to a calendar month basis. Only national
level estimates are published due to the limited number of plants
involved. Generally, individual items are not published if there
are less than three plants reporting, or if any one plant has 60
percent or more of the total.
One unique feature of the "Catfish Processing" report is the
listing of cooperating processors by name on each month's release.
This feature originally was used to solicit industry cooperation in
maintaining coverage, but it has continued because of the
processors' overall acceptance of this policy.
Import and export data for frozen catfish fillets, which are
compiled by the Department of Commerce, are also included in this
report.
Reliability: Catfish processing estimates are based on a
census of all known active processors and, therefore, have no
sampling variability. However, estimates may be subject to errors
such as omissions, duplication, and mistakes in reporting,
recording, and processing of the data. These errors are minimized
through strict quality controls in the edit and summarization
process, and a careful review of all reported data for consistency
and reasonableness.
Revision Policy: Revisions may be necessary following a review of
late reports received from plants. Revisions of less than 2
percent of the existing published levels of any category will
normally not be made.
Definitions Used For Catfish Processing:
Average Price Paid to Producers - Refers to the price of fish
delivered to the processing plant door. Price includes charges for
any services provided by the processing plant, such as seining and
hauling, but does not include any adjustments based on year-end
settlements.
Fillets - Boned sides of the fish, cut lengthwise away from the
backbone.
Fresh Fish - Fish intended for immediate consumption. Also
referred to as ice-packed.
Frozen Fish - Fish which are individually quick frozen and glazed
(IQF) or individually bagged and bulk frozen.
Nuggets - Small fillets cut from below the rib section of the fish.
Usually includes breading or added ingredients.
Round & Gutted Only - Fish with no processing done or viscera only
removed.
Round Weight - A term for fish live weight.
Steaks - Cross-section cuts from larger dressed fish.
Strips - Finger size pieces of fish cut from fillets. Usually
includes breading or added ingredients.
Whole Dressed - Weight of whole fish with only head, viscera, and
skin removed. Generally, 60 percent of the live weight remains as
dressed fish.
Processing data were compiled in cooperation with the following
processors:
America's Catch Heartland Catfish
Aqua Farm Catfish Lake's Farm Raised Catfish, Inc
Carolina Classics Catfish, Inc. Pride of the Pond
Consolidated Catfish Co. LLC. Pride of the South Catfish Co.
Delta Pride Catfish, Inc Prime Line Catfish Co.
Delta Supreme Fish Processing Seabrook Seafood, Inc.
Fish Breeders of Idaho Simmons Farm-Raised
Freshwater Farms Products LLC. Southern Pride
Guidry Catfish Processors, Inc. *Southfresh Farms
Harvest Select Superior Fish Processors
Haring's Pride
* Estimated
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