Frozen squid cheaper than fresh... Catch volume surge leads to last year's 'half-price' level

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Emart is offering domestic fresh squid at prices more than 50% cheaper than usual.

Emart announced on the 25th that it will offer 5 domestic fresh squids (around 100g each) for 7,900 won for one week until the 1st of next month. The price per squid is 1,580 won, which is about 51% cheaper compared to 3,280 won per squid sold in June last year.

The reason Emart can offer fresh squid at such low prices is that the catch volume of fresh squid has sharply increased this year, causing prices to drop significantly.

In fact, from the 1st to the 15th of this month, the amount of squid auctioned at Sokcho Fisheries Cooperative was 165,285 kg, more than four times the squid auction volume in June last year. As the catch volume increased, the auction price also dropped significantly; the average price per 1 kg of squid from the 1st to the 6th was 1,900 won, about 26% lower than the same period last year.

In particular, the promotional price of the fresh squid being sold this time is cheaper than that of ‘frozen squid.’ Due to the price drop of fresh squid this year, frozen squid stored last year has become more expensive than the recently caught fresh squid, creating this unusual price phenomenon.

Yeom Iyong, Emart’s seafood buyer, said, “The squid, once called ‘gold squid (Geumjingeo),’ has been caught in large quantities for the first time in a long while and is returning to being called simply ‘squid.’ Through this event, customers will be able to enjoy one of the most popular seafood items, squid, at an affordable price.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.