Thai skipjack prices expected to continue drop due to EU quota

28-Jan-2016 - Last updated on 28-Jan-2016 at 07:40 GMT

Thai skipjack tuna prices fell in December to their lowest level since 2009 due to an expected increase in catches following the end of a ban on fishing aggregating devices in the West Pacific.

Prices since bounced back by 5% as a result of higher demand following an increase in the European Commission’s duty-free import quota for 2016 to 25,000 tonnes of frozen, pre-cooked loin—an increase of 13% year on year.

However, this quota was used within the first eight days of the year as tuna already stored in transit, and waiting for the quota to be applied, caused prices to increase from mid-December. With the duty free quota fully exhausted, demand is likely to fall as a result.