SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SCOM] by Michael Ramsingh — July 24, 2014 — With new shell lobster supplies likely to pick up in late July and into August, industry expectations and history suggest the live lobster market is set for prices to come down to seasonal lows for the latter half of the summer.
Live American lobster prices out of New England are poised to fall sharply this summer–albeit a bit little later this year compared to recent seasons–as new shell product out of Maine is hitting the market at a more historical pace.
Average wholesale prices for live, 1 ¼ quarter lobsters in New England are 60 percent higher this July compared to last year according to Urner Barry. The increase has been driven by a lack of soft, or “new shell” inventories this season compared to 2012 and 2013.
Colder than normal Maine waters have delayed the lobster molt and cut catches of new shell lobster by as much as half versus last summer.
This has forced buyers to tap into hold-over inventories of higher priced hard shell product, driving mid-summer market prices considerably higher this year than in recent seasons as evidenced in our chart.
Maine’s delayed molt this year actually positioned the season within more historical territory than what the fishery has seen in the last two years. A look at live summer prices in 2010 and 2011–highlighted in the chart– shows the market trending quite similar to this year with prices rising through July before bottoming out into August.
And this week the Maine lobster industry confirmed the molt has commenced. Traders reported that new shell product has finally started hitting the market with a price range between $4.75 and $5.75 per pound.
Generally speaking, hard shell Maine lobster is a higher quality product with strong demand in Asian and EU market. Hard shell lobsters command a higher price versus their lower-quality new shell counterparts as they do not ship well overseas and lack interantional appeal.
So with new shell lobster supplies likely to pick up in late July and into August, industry expectations and history suggest the live lobster market is set for prices to come down to seasonal lows for the latter half of the summer.
This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscripton site. It has been reprinted with permission.