Fishmeal (Steam-Dried Super Prime, Prime & Standard)

Anchovy and pelagic fishmeal by protein, TVN, histamine and antioxidant, in bags or bulk

Fishmeal is whole small pelagic fish or fish-processing by-products cooked at 85–90°C, pressed, stripped of their oil and dried with the concentrated stickwater added back, then milled; it is declared under HS 2301.20, a subheading that also covers meals of crustaceans and molluscs, so the raw material is named on every offer and this page is fish only. Protein and freshness set the grade, and the Peruvian anchovy (Engraulis ringens) sheets are the market's reference: super prime at 68% minimum protein, TVN (total volatile nitrogen) ≤ 100 mg/100 g and histamine ≤ 500 ppm; prime at 67%, TVN ≤ 120 mg/100 g and histamine ≤ 1,000 ppm; standard at 65% with fat ≤ 12% and TVN up to 150–180 mg/100 g; tuna meal from 60%. Histamine in the finished meal is driven by how fresh the raw fish was, and fishmeal earns its price in diets that need digestible, palatable protein — weaned and nursery pigs, young poultry, salmon, trout and shrimp — so the drying route is stated beside the protein: steam-dried and low-temperature meals are preferred where digestibility counts, because flame drying can reduce amino-acid availability. The oil in the meal oxidises and the meal self-heats, so export meal is stabilised at production and must still hold at least 50 mg/kg ethoxyquin, 100 mg/kg BHT or 250 mg/kg tocopherol-based antioxidant at shipment. Bagged or in containers it travels under the IMDG Code as UN 2216, FISH MEAL (FISH SCRAP), STABILIZED, Class 9; in bulk, since IMSBC Code amendment 07-23 became mandatory on 1 January 2025, it is a Group B cargo classed as hazardous only in bulk (self-heating) instead of UN 2216. The antioxidant also decides the destination: the EU suspended ethoxyquin as a feed additive under Regulation (EU) 2017/962 and denied its authorisation in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1375, so meal for EU feed is specified ethoxyquin-free and stabilised with tocopherols, with or without rosemary extract.

Supply rides on Peru, whose anchovy gives enough raw material for 15–20% of world fishmeal and fish oil output, and 2026 is short: PRODUCE set the north-central first-season quota at 1,914,049 MT on 1 April, 36% below the 2025 first season, suspended fishing from May as juveniles dominated the catch and closed the season from 21 August (Ministerial Resolution 00285-2026-PRODUCE) with about 470,000 MT, 24.6% of the quota, landed. Fastmarkets assessed Peruvian steam-dried standard (65–66% protein) at USD 3,325–3,375/MT FOB on 10 September 2026. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 2301.20 put Peru at 959,668 MT (833,637 MT of it to China), Chile 252,945 MT, India 208,151 MT, Thailand 183,890 MT, Denmark 161,691 MT, Morocco 156,868 MT, Oman 69,486 MT and Mauritania 59,696 MT, with 257,830 MT declared by importers from Vietnam, which did not report; China declared 1.96 million MT of imports. The buyer is an aquafeed mill — aquafeed takes 65–70% of marine ingredients — or a pig, poultry or pet-food formulator. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers fishmeal from Peruvian, Chilean, Mauritanian, Moroccan, Indian, Vietnamese, Omani, Thai and Danish plants and trader positions against SGS, Intertek or Bureau Veritas analysis at loading, the competent authority's health certificate, the shipper's antioxidant and temperature certificate and a certificate of origin naming the plant (for Morocco, the plant and catch area), with the plant's MarinTrust status, MSC status where the fishery holds it and, for EU buyers, the plant's EU listing checked. Every lot is species-declared and certifiable as halal by the destination's accepted certifier; the seafood book is fish and shrimp only, with no crab, lobster, oysters, other shellfish or molluscs. Meal moves in 50 kg lined multi-ply bags in containers, or in bulk, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms; because CBIL also runs a chartering desk (LaycanDesk), a bulk parcel's freight can be quoted with the cargo. Send the grade, protein floor, TVN and histamine ceilings, antioxidant, monthly tonnage and discharge port and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.

Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices bulk feed ingredient freight on LaycanDesk.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.