Global Tuna Market Week 45: Bangkok Canning Raw Material Holds Above $2,300/t, Fresh Bluefin Farms Shipping at Full Capacity

In Week 45 of 2026 (November 2–8), the international tuna market showed clear divergence between canning raw material and the high-value fresh and sashimi segments.

In the canning segment, frozen raw material quotes at major Southeast Asian processing hubs remained firm, with Bangkok (Thailand) purse-seiner direct-landing transaction prices holding in the $2,300–2,350/t CFR range. This level is up more than 53% year to date from the start of 2026 and is only $50/t below the historic highs set in 2013 and 2017. Reasons for the price rise include lower catch rates in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO), El Niño conditions causing fish schools to disperse, and Middle East geopolitical tensions driving up marine fuel costs. Some vessel owners have made tentative quotes $100–150/t above the range, but large processors are buying only to meet immediate production line needs, while medium-sized plants are accepting the firm prices to ensure production continuity.

In the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO), ex-vessel prices at Manta, Ecuador, are stable at $1,900–2,100/t, with spot trades starting from $1,800/t depending on fish size, maintaining a $200–550/t spread to Bangkok. Processing plants are operating at maximum buffer stock levels to cope with the start of the second mandatory closure for Class 4, 5 and 6 purse seiners under Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) Resolution C-25-01 — a 64-day closure beginning at 00:00 on Monday, November 9, 2026, which may be extended to 72 days or longer if bigeye tuna catches exceed 1,200 t beforehand. Pressure at origin is transmitting directly to Spain's Galicia processing industry, where frozen pre-cooked skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) loins imported from Ecuador and Southeast Asia are quoted at $5,150–5,350/t DDP at factory, squeezing margins under retail private-label contracts.

For yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), longline landings in the Indian Ocean and Central Pacific remained moderate. At General Santos in the Philippines and Bitung and Benoa in Indonesia, ex-vessel prices for whole fish suitable for export loins ranged between $5,200 and $5,600/t; brine-frozen raw material for Asian pre-cooked production lines held stable at $2,750–2,880/t CFR. Catches of bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) by Taiwan and South Korea distant-water longline fleets were moderate, with supply in Asian auction markets on the tight side. Japanese on-board ultra-low-temperature (-60°C) frozen bigeye tuna traded at JPY 1,850/kg ($11.81) to JPY 3,200/kg ($20.45), while recent trades in Taiwan wholesale markets were around TWD 159.80/kg ($4.97).

In the high-value sashimi segment, Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) farms in Malta, Spain (Cartagena and L'Ametlla de Mar), Tunisia and Turkey are harvesting and selectively slaughtering at full capacity to supply Japan's winter and year-end peak consumption season. More than 85% of Malta's farmed biomass has been committed for direct export to the Japanese market; in Turkey and Tunisia, joint inspection teams and underwater stereo camera equipment are verifying cage stock density against ICCAT transfer declarations. Clean sashimi-grade loins in European wholesale markets traded at EUR 26.50/kg ($29.54) to EUR 34.50/kg ($38.46), while forward contract prices for frozen gilled and gutted (GG) product to Japan ranged from JPY 3,500/kg ($22.35) to JPY 4,850/kg ($30.97).

Meanwhile, Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) farming concessions in Baja California, Mexico, are operating under the 2026 direct annual quota of 1,285 t set by the IATTC, with product flowing to high-end restaurant channels in California, USA, and airfreighted to Tokyo. In Port Lincoln, South Australia, operators completed sales of frozen southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) inventory; the species is constrained by the global CCSBT total allowable catch (TAC) of 20,647 t, and Japanese wholesale prices varied between JPY 2,600/kg ($16.60) and JPY 4,500/kg ($28.75) depending on fat marbling grade (otoro and chutoro). At auctions at Tokyo's Toyosu Central Wholesale Market, the average price of Japanese domestic fresh bluefin tuna from Aomori and Ōma ranged from JPY 6,500/kg ($41.50) to JPY 16,000/kg ($102.00), with some select lots exceeding JPY 22,000/kg ($140.50); imported farmed fresh bluefin tuna traded at JPY 4,200/kg ($26.80) to JPY 6,800/kg ($43.45).