Zhejiang Zhoushan International Agricultural Products Trade Center (Zhejiang Agricultural Center) released the 37th week (September 4th to 10th, 2026) weekly report on distant-water squid on September 14th. The domestic distant-water squid market was generally at a low level with fluctuations. Except for slight adjustments in the quotations of various specifications of Peruvian squid, the comprehensive quotations of Argentine squid, Northwest Pacific and Indian Ocean production areas remained the same as the previous week.
The quotations for Peruvian squid have shown a divergence. The prices of extra-small plain strips, small plain strips and plain strips rose by 100 yuan per ton, 150 yuan per ton and 50 yuan per ton respectively compared with the previous week. The prices of large head, large whole strip and sheet dropped by 150 yuan per ton, 100 yuan per ton and 50 yuan per ton respectively, while the rest of the specifications remained stable. Within the same production area, small-sized products are strengthening while large-sized ones are falling, and the directions are not consistent. The online transaction volume of this platform that week was 519 tons, which was lower than that of the previous week. Data from Weihai International Marine Commodity Trading Center on September 11th showed that the price of medium-sized Peruvian equatorial squid rose slightly, while the prices of other sizes remained stable.
No new price variables emerged in the remaining production areas. The comprehensive quotations for Argentine squid (off-line) remained unchanged from the previous week. The quotations in the Northwest Pacific and Indian Ocean production areas were also stable. At the import end, transactions mainly focused on fulfilling existing orders.
The fishing season in Argentina has come to an end. Data from Argentina's National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC) shows that after adjusting for seasonal factors, Argentina's fishery production index rose by 7.1% month-on-month in July 2026, marking the third consecutive month of growth. The growth was mainly driven by crustaceans. The production index of mollusks, including squid, decreased by 59.3% year-on-year in July and by 8.4% cumulatively from January to July. The recovery of the production index has not been transmitted to the squid segment. The price end weakened simultaneously. The 150/200g and 300/400g specifications of Argentine squid at Weihai International Marine Commodity Trading Center dropped by 500 yuan per ton and 400 yuan per ton respectively compared to last week, while the other specifications remained stable.
The supply side is still expanding. Data from the General Directorate of Supervision, Inspection and Sanctions (DGSFS-PA) of the Ministry of Production of Peru shows that as of September 10th, the cumulative unloading volume of Peruvian squid reached 654,224.11 tons, completing 92.19% of the annual quota for 2026, with the highest daily landing volume exceeding 5,000 tons. The quota itself has been raised twice within the year: it was raised to 589,230 tons in early July, and by Ministerial Resolution No. 00304 at the end of August, it was further increased by over 82,000 tons to 709,659 tons. Based on this annual quota, the remaining catch as of September 10th was less than 56,000 tons.
The actions taken after the quota peaked have been implemented. The Production Department's Resolution No. 00122 has suspended the fishing of craft fishing vessels with a capacity of 10 to 32.6 cubic meters as of 0:00 on September 13th. The High Seas fleet's daily output per vessel last week was between 3 and 5 tons. Since December 2025, the average catch per vessel has been approximately 850 to 900 tons.
The recovery of domestic demand is relatively slow. In the 37th week, the volume of self-caught squid from the sea at Zhoushan Port slightly decreased compared with the previous week. The overall market supply was sufficient, but the purchasing pace of downstream customers was relatively slow, and the wait-and-see sentiment had not yet dissipated. The market observer of Zhejiang Agricultural Center commented that the current core contradiction lies in the game between relatively abundant supply and limited recovery of demand, and there has been no significant change in the short-term supply and demand pattern. As the National Day approaches, when the pre-holiday stocking-up will start and how much can be released are the key variables determining whether the price of distant-water squid can break away from the low level in the coming weeks.
