Prices up, or prices down?

One executive said the potential impact of floods in Thailand is seeing prices for raw material rise, while another presented a different picture.

“Raw material prices did move up today [Tuesday],” Jim Gulkin managing director of Siam Canadian Group, a frozen seafood exporter, told IntraFish. “Uncertainty is fueling a lot of speculation.”

However, Choopong Luesukprasert, managing director of Marine Gold Products, a Thai shrimp processor, sees prices coming down, then rising.

Although the floods are not hitting the farming areas yet, “I think it’s just a matter of time,” he said.

I think we will have supply issues for sure and prices will firm up towards year end.

“Prices came down Tuesday, because farmers are now afraid to hold their production in the ponds and started to harvest before things get worse,” he told IntraFish.

“So we had lots of small sizes flooding into market and driving down the prices, said Luesukprasert. “With that said, these shrimp are being harvested early, so this means future supply is being cut short.”

This will result in limited supply in the next few months and the prices will start to rocker,” he said.

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