The Russian Fishery Company (RFC) has begun supplying pollock fillet to the markets of China and Japan.
The first contract for the supply of 700 tonnes to China was signed in 2020. This year, another contract was signed for 1,000 tonnes, and an agreement on the supply of 2.5 thousand tonnes to China is being prepared. The first 600 tonnes have been contracted for the Japanese market and in 2022, RFC plans to supply at least 5,000 tonnes to Asia.
RFC is also expanding its presence in the domestic market supplying around 1,000 tonnes of fillet in 2020 and aiming to increase to 5,000 tonnes in 2021/22.
“The RFC is aimed at a significant increase in the share of products with high added value, a reduction in the supply of headless HG pollock for the production of secondary frozen products and the development of new fillet and surimi markets,” said Maxim Klyushin, director of strategic development, marketing and sales support of RFC.
“By the end of 2021, it is planned that the share of fish sent for the production of sea-frozen fillet and surimi will exceed 50% of the total catch,” he added.
The company aims to start surimi production in 2021, planning a production of 4 to 5 thousand tonnes in 2021 and 20,000 in 2022. Surimi is produced at the facilities of new supertrawlers, with 11 such vessels planned for RFC, each producing around 15,000 tonnes of deep-processed product.
