Nakhodka Active Marine base (NBAMR), one of Russia's largest producers of whitefish, has announced its withdrawal from the European market and will no longer be supplying pollock fillets from 2024, leaving only some old stocks on the market. The move marks a major shift in the company's strategy, with NBAMR shifting its focus to the Chinese market, concentrating on exporting H&G (headed and gutted) material to China.

NBAMR has a 100,000-ton pollock fishing quota, but has shifted its resources and efforts to the Chinese market as it exits the European market. In recent years, demand in the European market has continued to decline and fillet prices have plummeted, leading to a steady deterioration in the company's financial position.20 In October 2024, NBAMR was embroiled in a legal dispute in which the Russian authorities canceled its fishing quota in the Far East and demanded payment of outstanding tax debts, which put further pressure on the company.

NBAMR has also faced greater difficulties in its financial performance. The company, controlled by Russian businessman and former politician Sergey Darkin, posted a loss of 475 million rubles (about $4.61 million) in the first half of 2024. Despite the fact that in 2023 the company's total sales amounted to 12.2 billion rubles and it made a net profit of 916 million rubles, changing market conditions and a sharp decline in prices led to increased losses. Previously, NBAMR held large stocks of pollock, but the company faced greater pressure to sell due to a sharp decline in the price of PBO fillets to USD 2,100 per tonne (excluding tax) and weak demand.Pollock H&G prices were also low for most of 2024, resulting in a cold market for trading. Although PBO fillet prices recovered towards the end of 2024, with outbound prices rising to US$2,500 to US$2,600 per ton, trading volumes remained low.

As of January 1, 2025, Russian exports of pollock fillets to Europe will be subject to a 13.7% tariff, a policy that undoubtedly exacerbated NBAMR's decision to exit the European market. In the face of these challenges, NBAMR's transition into the Chinese market has become inevitable. Whether NBAMR can succeed in the Chinese market in the future will be the key to its business recovery.