Mixed trends in German and French imports of Russian pollock fillets

German imports of Alaska pollock fillets from the Russian Federation declined from a high of over 60,000 tonnes in 2001 to less than 16 000 tonnes in 2005 as Russian producers appeared to switch to h&g sales to China for re-processing into fillets, according to Globefish.

The negative trend has continued again this year with volumes down 21% for the first eight months 2007. As a result, Russia's share of total German imports has fallen from 18 to 16%.

This drop has occurred alongside an increase of 5% of the import prices in Germany this year.

German Frozen Alaska Pollock Fillet Imports from Russia Jan - Aug

Note: The table has been compiled from Globefish figures

France

On Russia's another important market of the frozen Alaska pollock fillets, France, certain changes also can be observed.

French imports from the Russian Federation have come down this year. The decrease reaches 5% from 2,770 tonnes in 2006 to 2,630 tonnes in 2007 (as seen from the table below).

French Frozen Alaska Pollock Fillet Imports from Russia Jan-Jul

Note: The table has been compiled from Globefish figures

According to Globefish, unit values are generally down this year for French imports with average values for the Russian Federation showing the biggest fall at 8% to ?2.21/kg.