Argentine squid slides toward two-year low; Peru's fishing quota nearly 90% fulfilled

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In Week 36 (August 28 to September 3), ocean-caught squid quotations at the Zhoushan Zhenong Center moved broadly downward amid choppy trading, with each species following its own path: Peruvian squid (Dosidicus gigas) fluctuated within a narrow range, with small sizes bucking the trend to rise, while some sizes of Argentine squid (Illex argentinus) fell by as much as 2,650 yuan/tonne in a single week, with the 100-150g size quoted at 32,000-32,500 yuan/tonne, sliding toward a near two-year low. In its weekly report, the Zhenong Center characterized current market conditions as "weak and choppy, with pockets bottoming out."

The Argentine squid price declines were concentrated in three sizes. Zhenong Center data show that the 100-150g composite quotation fell 2,650 yuan/tonne from the previous week to 32,000-32,500 yuan/tonne, the largest decline of this round; 150-200g fell 650 yuan/tonne to 35,000-36,500 yuan/tonne; 300-400g fell 500 yuan/tonne to 40,000-41,000 yuan/tonne; other sizes were flat. The direct driver of the declines was the concentrated arrival of supply at ports — arrivals expanded in stages, while downstream uptake did not keep pace, leaving some sizes under pressure.

Squid fishing in the high seas of Argentine waters has now ended, and high-seas supply is unlikely to see any increment in the near term. On September 2-3, Argentina's Federal Fisheries Council held its 24th meeting and decided to extend the fishing projects of COFC Argentina S.A.'s two squid jiggers, "Zhou Yu 9" and "Zhou Yu 10," for 5 years. Both vessels received a composite score of 35 points, with scoring indicators covering commitments such as the proportion of Argentine crew, vessel age and onshore processing facilities; subsequent operations remain subject to ongoing verification of compliance with those commitments. This follows the same thread as the shipbuilding controversy in August over 18 new fishing permit projects — most of the approved projects are planned to be built by Chinese shipyards, and Argentina's domestic shipbuilding industry is demanding that permit slots be reserved for domestic yards.

On the Peruvian side, data released by the Ministry of Production on September 3 show that cumulative Peruvian squid landings during the 2026 fishing season reached 623,928.78 tonnes, fulfilling 87.92% of the annual quota. The quota was only expanded at the end of August — based on the results of the "Giant Squid Operation V" scientific survey, the total allowable catch for 2026 was raised to 709,659 tonnes, with the additional 82,000 tonnes released in two phases: half in September and the remainder from October to December. Judging by the pace in the first few days of the new phase, landings have clearly been front-loaded: 1,920 tonnes were landed over the five days from August 30 to September 3, with a single-day peak of 1,221 tonnes on September 2; the September 3 figure is still pending revision. Vessels with hold capacity under 10 cubic metres have landed 281.50 tonnes of the 9,878-tonne limit for this phase, while vessels with hold capacity of 10 cubic metres or more have landed 1,638.90 tonnes of the 31,282-tonne limit; the two tiers are 2.85% and 5.24% fulfilled respectively, with nearly a month to go before the phase ends on September 30.

The side effects of concentrated landings are already visible. The new rules impose no trip limits on small vessels with hold capacity below 10 cubic metres; large numbers of small boats have put to sea at once and brought their catch back to the docks in a short period, creating oversupply and price declines in some areas. Concentrated landings in major producing regions have put pressure on the processing segment, and some catch has suffered losses due to inadequate cold storage. On quotations, Peruvian squid sizes have begun to diverge: Zhenong Center Week 36 data show that small whole squid rose 250 yuan/tonne to 12,600-13,000 yuan/tonne, one of the few sizes moving up — downstream demand for small sizes remains strong; large whole squid fell 100 yuan/tonne to 10,800-11,700 yuan/tonne, while other sizes held steady. Trading clearly picked up, with 1,919 tonnes traded online at the Zhenong Center, more than triple the 458 tonnes in Week 35. On the Weihai side, quotations for Peruvian equatorial squid were stable on September 4: 300-500g at 14,000 yuan/tonne, 500-1,000g at 12,400 yuan/tonne, and 1,000-2,000g at 11,500 yuan/tonne.

Per-vessel yields in the high-seas fleet have rebounded. In Week 36, average daily output per high-seas squid jigger was 2-3 tonnes, a clear recovery from around 1 tonne in Week 35; since December 2025, cumulative average catch per vessel has been about 850 tonnes. The Chinese squid jigging fleet is the main force on these high seas, yet it runs on two separate tracks from coastal trade — the fleet has not called at Peruvian ports since 2024, while China remains the largest export destination for Peruvian squid, with Peru exporting 211,500 tonnes of squid to China in 2025.

Data from the General Administration of Customs show that cumulative imports of squid and cuttlefish products from January to July totaled 451,800 tonnes, with about 88,000 tonnes added in July alone; exports over the same period were 245,500 tonnes, down about 18% year on year. With imports expanding and exports contracting, inventory levels at ports and processing plants remain elevated — the industry weekly report therefore attributes this round of adjustment to the combined effect of inventory pressure and insufficient demand, rather than a general increase in production across producing regions.

Quotations in other fishing grounds were largely unchanged. North Pacific squid jigging catches were mixed, with the 500-1,000g size edging down 30 yuan/tonne and the 1,000-1,500g size up 870 yuan/tonne; composite quotations for Indian Ocean squid sizes were flat versus the previous week.

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