Aq 1 (12-02) Catfish Processing National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released December 23, 2002, 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 Up 12 Percent Farm-raised catfish processed during November 2002 totaled 50.1 million pounds round weight, up 12 percent from November 2001. The average price paid to producers was 56.0 cents per pound for November 2002, down 0.8 cents from last month and 0.6 cents below a year ago. Net pounds of processed fish sold during November 2002 totaled 23.9 million pounds, up 10 percent from the comparable month in 2001. Sales of fresh fish, at 8.64 million pounds, were up 1 percent from November 2001 and represented 36 percent of total sales. Frozen fish sales, at 15.3 million pounds, were up 15 percent from a year ago and accounted for the remaining 64 percent of total fish sales. Sales of whole fish represented 17 percent of the total fish sold, fillets accounted for 60 percent, and the remaining 23 percent were mostly steaks, nuggets, and value added products. The November 2002 average price received by processors for total fresh fish was $1.93 per pound, down 13 cents from last year. Prices for fresh whole fish were $1.24 per pound, down 18 cents from last year. Prices for fresh fillets were down 11 cents at $2.49 per pound. Total frozen fish averaged $2.10 per pound, down 5 cents from November 2001. Prices for frozen whole fish were down 8 cents at $1.87, while frozen fillets at $2.38 per pound were down 6 cents from a year ago. Freshwater imports of frozen, boneless, catfish fillets for October 2002 totaled 572 thousand pounds, 64 percent below the amount from a year ago. Ninty-one percent of the imports were from Vietnam, with the remainder coming from Brazil and Guyana. Exports reported for October 2002 totaled 20.2 thousand pounds. All of the exports were to Germany. Import and export data are compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Census. The request made to the Bureau of the Census to compile data for fresh catfish fillet exports has been granted. Fresh fillet exports will be included in this report when they become available. Farm-Raised Catfish: Quantity Processed by Major Processors, United States, 2001-2002 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Round Weight Processed : :-----------------------------------------------------------: Percent Month : Monthly :Percent of : Cumulative : of :-----------------------: Previous :-----------------------: Previous : 2001 : 2002 : Year : 2001 : 2002 : Year -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : -- 1,000 Pounds -- Percent --- 1,000 Pounds -- Percent : Jan : 46,999 52,551 112 46,999 52,551 112 Feb : 50,257 52,856 105 97,256 105,407 108 Mar : 57,766 58,340 101 155,022 163,747 106 Apr : 52,478 50,694 97 207,500 214,441 103 May : 51,736 52,902 102 259,236 267,343 103 Jun : 47,883 49,450 103 307,119 316,793 103 Jul : 47,829 52,363 109 354,948 369,156 104 Aug : 51,690 54,383 105 406,638 423,539 104 Sep : 49,699 53,366 107 456,337 476,905 105 Oct : 52,264 56,576 108 508,601 533,481 105 Nov : 44,670 50,072 112 553,271 583,553 105 Dec : 43,837 597,108 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Farm-Raised Catfish: Prices Paid to Producers by Processors and Imports, United States, 2001-2002 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Price per : Change : : Percent Month : Pound 1/ : from : Imports 2/ : of :-----------------------: Previous :-----------------------: Previous : 2001 : 2002 : Year : 2001 : 2002 : Year -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ---- Dollars ---- Dollars 1,000 Pounds Percent : Jan : 0.693 0.549 -0.144 862 1,037 120 Feb : 0.696 0.555 -0.141 510 1,048 205 Mar : 0.697 0.565 -0.132 1,201 414 34 Apr : 0.694 0.561 -0.133 1,787 618 35 May : 0.687 0.574 -0.113 1,989 1,491 75 Jun : 0.669 0.588 -0.081 2,114 982 46 Jul : 0.656 0.590 -0.066 1,968 957 49 Aug : 0.624 0.582 -0.042 1,385 632 46 Sep : 0.610 0.576 -0.034 1,536 670 44 Oct : 0.596 0.568 -0.028 1,608 572 36 Nov : 0.566 0.560 -0.006 1,724 Dec : 0.554 1,395 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Price for fish delivered to the processing plant door. Price excludes 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. Data furnished by U.S. Bureau of Census. Catfish Processors: Sales Volume, Average Price, and Ending Inventory, United States, November 2001-2002 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Sales : Average : Ending : Volume : Price : Inventory Item :--------------------------------------------------------- : 2001 : 2002 : 2001 : 2002 : 2001 : 2002 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds Dollars per Pound 1,000 Pounds : Fresh Fish : Whole : Round & Gutted : 732 1,011 0.98 0.84 * * Whole Dressed : 2,133 2,020 1.55 1.42 * * Total : 2,865 3,031 1.42 1.24 143 183 : Other : Steaks : 60 74 2.00 2.01 * * Nuggets : 928 865 1.19 1.18 69 92 Other 1/ : 235 226 3.06 2.83 * * Total : 1,223 1,165 1.59 1.55 78 105 : Fillets 2/ : 4,463 4,447 2.60 2.49 404 407 : Total Fresh : 8,551 8,643 2.06 1.93 625 695 : Frozen Fish : Whole Dressed : 903 1,101 1.95 1.87 588 902 : Other : Steaks : 93 131 1.83 1.78 95 84 Nuggets : 2,478 2,725 1.03 1.04 1,206 1,540 Other 1/ : 1,142 1,539 2.58 2.41 1,028 1,224 Total : 3,713 4,395 1.52 1.54 2,329 2,848 : Fillets 2/ : 8,640 9,800 2.44 2.38 10,773 7,228 : Total Frozen : 13,256 15,296 2.15 2.10 13,690 10,978 : Fresh & Frozen Fish : Whole : Round & Gutted : 732 1,011 0.98 0.84 * * Whole Dressed : 3,036 3,121 1.67 1.58 * * Total : 3,768 4,132 1.55 1.41 731 1,085 : Other : Steaks : 153 205 1.90 1.86 * * Nuggets : 3,406 3,590 1.07 1.07 1,275 1,632 Other 1/ : 1,377 1,765 2.66 2.46 * * Total : 4,936 5,560 1.54 1.54 2,407 2,953 : Fillets 2/ : 13,103 14,247 2.50 2.41 11,177 7,635 : Total Fresh & Frozen : 21,807 23,939 2.12 2.04 14,315 11,673 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * 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 26 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: Acadiana Pride Haring's Pride America's Catch Heartland Catfish Amite River Industries Lake's Farm Raised Catfish, Inc Arkansas Catfish Growes LLC *Prairie Lands Seafood Aqua Farm Catfish Pride of the Pond Carolina Classics Catfish, Inc. Pride of the South Catfish Co. Consolidated Catfish Co. LLC. Prime Line Catfish Co. Delta Pride Catfish, Inc Seabrook Seafood, Inc. Delta Supreme Fish Processing Simmons Farm-Raised Fish Breeders of Idaho Southern Farm Fish Processors Freshwater Farms, Inc. Southern Pride Guidry Catfish Processors, Inc. Southfresh Farms Harvest Select Superior Fish Processors * Estimated The next "Catfish Processing" report will be released at 3 p.m. ET on January 22, 2003. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact the USDA's TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD). 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