Wholesale Prices 



Wholesale price information on shrimp products is available 

 from two sources. The Market News Service, Bureau of Commercial 

 Fisheries, United States Fish and Wildlife Service collects data f.o.b. 

 shrimp landing ports as well as f.o.b. receiving centers. Considerable 

 detail on prices is available for frozen shrimp received in Boston and 

 Chicago and for fresh and frozen shrimp received in New York City. 



The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Labor includes monthly average prices of fresh headless shrimp 

 (26-30 count) in New York in the computation of its index of processed 

 fresh fish and shellfish wholesale prices. Monthly average prices of 

 packaged frozen headless shrimp (26-30 count) in five pound packages in 

 Chicago are considered in the computation of its index of frozen proc- 

 essed fish and shellfish wholesale prices. The Bureau of Labor Statis- 

 tics monthly average prices for shrimp products are obtained from the 

 Market News Service, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, United States Fish 

 and Wildlife Service. 



On the vzholesale market, as on the fisherman's level, fresh 

 and frozen shrimp are sold by count, with the larger sizes bringing 

 higher prices. There is also a price differential between the differ- 

 ent varieties of shrimp, with white shrimp generally bringing higher 

 prices than brown or pink shrimp of comparable qualities. 



Wholesale market counts generally used are In multiples of 5. 



In actual practice, the number of shrimp in a shipment desig- 

 nated 21 to 25 or 26 to 30 do not all fall ^•dthin the given range, but 

 will average close to it. Shipments in these categories are useful to 

 processors who do not require specific grading. Institutional buyers, 

 such as large hotels, restaurants and drive-in restaurants, demand 

 shrimp counts in a close range. Some of these institutions will purchase 

 only 26-30 count shrimp, knowing that 5 to 6 shrimp will be equivalent to 

 one serving, thus eliminating additional measurement. 



Production Center-Wholesale Price Data 



Table VHI - 33 depicts the range of wholesale prices f.o.b. 

 Texas ports in 1951-1956. 



TABLE Vin - 33.— RANGE OF WHOLESALE PRICES OF FROZEN 

 GROOVED SHRIMP F.O.B. LOCALITIES IN TEXAS 



(lg-20 count, heads off) 



Year Cents per pound Year Cents per pound 



1951 U7 - 67 195U h? - 78 



1952 52 - 78 1955 52 - 75 

 1953 66 - 110 1956 59 - 82 



Consumption Center-Wiolesale Price Data 



Comparison with production center statistics . — For comparison 

 with the Texas data, the annual range of wholesale prices of frozen 



12U 



