Sydney Fish Market Quarterly Report | Q3 2024

QUARTERLY REPORT-Q3

JAN - MARCH 2024

MESSAGEFROMTHECEO

Welcome to SFM’s Quarterly Report for Q3 (January-March 2024).

After a record-breaking December in terms of site visitation, the new year began strongly for Sydney Fish Market. Increased international tourism and an early Easter meant that visitation numbers remained consistent throughout the quarter, and seafood trading performed well considering supply fluctuations.

This year has already seen, and will continue to see, momentum build towards the completion of construction of the new Sydney Fish Market.

This building presents an invaluable opportunity for Sydney Fish Market to transform operations and deliver an expanded business model that leverages the significant investment from the NSW Government to strengthen pride in the Australian seafood industry. We look forward to delivering this jewel in the crown of the industry.

NEWSYDNEYFISHMARKET

Construction of the new Sydney Fish Market progressed significantly in Q3.

BASEMENT STRUCTURE

The basement structure of the new Sydney Fish Market is now complete, and is a hive of activity as service installation begins. When operational, the basement level of the building will be partially submerged in Blackwattle Bay and suspended above the Bay floor.

The new Sydney Fish Market has been specially designed to withstand the unique marine conditions, thanks to specialised concrete and reinforcement to ensure the building is watertight. Design specifications have also taken into consideration the immense pressure from the surrounding tidal waters.

EASTERN AND WESTERN PROMENADES

Construction of the eastern and western promenades is well and truly underway... And the process is fascinating to watch. Formwork has now been removed from the eastern promenade, and fabricated precast headstocks and planks are being delivered to site by barges and lifted directly into place.

Installation of headstocks and planks at the western promenade (pictured) is now complete, with fabrication of the promenade stairs commencing at Glebe Island.

MEZZANINE LEVEL

The mezzanine level of the new building will offer spectacular views of Blackwattle Bay looking north, and feature a state-of-the art facility for our beloved Sydney Seafood School, as well as additional retail and public areas, and offices.

Structural steel beams and columns that form the structure for the building’s mezzanine level were installed in January. Fabrication of structural steel for the roof canopy is complete and also being installed.

GLEBE ISLAND

The new Sydney Fish Market project uses Glebe Island as a local staging area for building material being delivered, stored and fabricated.

This facility allows barge transport of materials to site across the water, reducing the number of trucks on the road and playing a significant part in the project’s commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of deliveries.

Lots of elements of the new building, from roof cassettes, to promenade planks, to glulam timber beams for the roof structure, get loaded on the barge at Glebe Island and moved into place by crane once at the site.

FINANCIALPERFORMANCE

The 3rd quarter of the financial year saw the continuation of difficult trading conditions that was seen in H1, with seafood supply issues being compounded by the high costs of operating the site due to high visitation.

In terms of the income generating departments, key aspects are as follows:

SeafoodTrading

Wild caught seafood – particularly sold through the auction – continues to be affected by significant external pressures with the decline in the volume traded continuing throughout the financial year.

Property

Site visitation has continued to increase to numbers above pre-COVID levels, and this has had a detrimental effect on site operating costs, particularly related to cleaning and waste disposal.

SydneySeafoodSchool

The school continues to successfully diversify its offering, with the corporate private class experience continuing to be successful in terms of driving revenue.

SEAFOODTRADING

Seafood Trading results in Q3 bucked the trend somewhat from those achieved in Q2, returning growth in orders, volume, price, revenue, and margins. Easter in 2023 was in April (Q4) which we are yet to cycle, but results in April last year were very soft.

SFM achieved budgeted volume for the quarter and Q3 proved resilient compared to Q2 (which included the Christmas period) with several significant direct sale species being the key driver. In terms of the year to date, Seafood Trading performance is 3.8% up, and SFM is close to achieving budget for the full year.

The key contributing species to growth were NZ Snapper, NZ Salmon, Black Tiger Prawns, Murray Cod, and Barramundi.

NEW SOUTH WALES

NSW has been the engine room for the quarter and accounted for over 53% of total supply (by volume) to SFM. Supply revenue was up due to a 10.5% increase in average prices.

One of the key species driving this result was Male Mud Crab, which saw a 100% increase in supply compared to the same quarter last year; these volumes were driven mostly by Northern NSW Co-ops. Another key species was Tiger Flathead, which defied recent declines by holding firm in volume to the same quarter last year. North Coast volumes also stayed consistent despite the loss of some School Prawn supply due to whitespot.

The focus by SFM on Yellowfin Tuna from the South Coast has delivered rewards. Record numbers of boats are either sending Tuna direct to SFM or unloading Tuna on the Market’s wharf. Volume has been maintained and new buyers have been sourced for this product, and thus average prices increased by almost 30% through SFM's various sales channels.

Local Sydney-based fishers also performed well for the quarter. Volume from this supply subset has moderately increased (by 3 tonnes) but a 14% jump in average prices led to increases in supply revenue. Usual species like School Whiting and Yellowfin Bream have been the primary drivers of this, however fishers in this region have also been trialing sending other species direct to SFM, significantly raising their supply revenue. These factors all contributed to a healthy quarterly result for NSW.

QUEENSLAND

While volume for this region was marginally higher than the corresponding quarter in 2023, value fell slightly. Contributing factors included the fact that 70% of Queensland inshore fishing licenses (gill net) have not been renewed in line with fishing reforms.

While supply of the region's top performing species, Male Mud Crab, increased on the year prior, average pricing was slightly below the average.

NORTHERNTERRITORY

Issues associated with supply from the Northern Territory have been well documented for some time. While the situation remains uncertain, particularly for Grey Mackerel supply, in recent weeks SFM’s Business Development team have secured the interest of a number a new suppliers from the region, which will see a stronger base to build on moving forward.

WESTERNAUSTRALIA

This region performed particularly well in Q3. Business development activity is currently being undertaken with one of the region’s key suppliers, which has the potential to generate increases in supply moving forward. This will include the increased supply of key reef species to be traded via direct sale.

TASMANIA

Results in March alone were well up on last year’s results for this region. It was a particularly great month for Sea Urchin, with several suppliers sending A Grade Urchin in wood boxes and “diving to order”, receiving prices of between $280-$380 per kg. This, along with a combination of other species (including Morwong, Wrasse, Bluefin Tuna, and Calamari), grew volume from this region for the quarter by 128%.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

The volumes of three key species from this region were slightly lower this quarter: Kingfish, Crab and Calamari. This was due mainly to continued bad weather and individual business issues. However, SFM’s business development activity uncovered new opportunities with a number of new suppliers, providing supply in whole Flathead, Blue Eye Trevalla, Ling, King George Whiting, and Garfish.

NEW ZEALAND

SFM continues to explore options to recover sales in Octopus, due to the the species being managed by quota, and holding high local demand and price. Flathead sales improved towards the end of the quarter, with supply increasing from two of the region’s biggest suppliers to SFM.

New Zealand’s results were a highlight this quarter, due to the securing extra supply of almost all top species (including Salmon, Snapper, Groper, Ling, Hapuka, and Blue Eye Trevalla). Insatiable demand for NZ species represents further business development opportunities for SFM.

VICTORIA

SITEANDSEAFOOD PROMOTION

LUNARNEWYEAR

Sydney Fish Market’s Lunar New Year event, which featured a traditional lion dance performance on the site, generated extremely strong visitation and a number of valuable pieces of media coverage, including in Urban List, Broadsheet, Weekend Notes, and on 2UE radio. The event was also included in multiple places on City of Sydney’s website, including in the official program of the Sydney Lunar Festival. Results from the campaign were strong, with visitation increasing by more than 50% year on year, and both organic and paid social media efforts performing well.

NATIONALPRAWNDAY

For the third year running, National Prawn Day saw Tassal host a consumer-facing activation on the Sydney Fish Market site, including a marquee at the entrance to the arcade hosting prawn-peeling competitions and tastings. SFM also capitalised on the event peak through a range of prawn-focused organic content, with the goal of driving both site visitation and consumption of Australian prawns from all SFM suppliers.

EASTEREXTENDEDTRADE

Sydney Fish Market’s Easter event peak saw a 3.8% increase in visitation year on year across the long weekend, with over 47,000 people visiting the site on Good Friday alone. Easter’s extended trading hours were promoted through an omni-channel approach which included both social and traditional advertising, PR and media engagement, and organic content.

INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT

SEAFOODEXCELLENCEAWARDS

Nominations for the 2024 Sydney Fish Market Seafood Excellence Awards opened in January. The prestigious biennial awards recognise the seafood industry’s top players across 11 categories for their contribution to the economy, professionalism, and commitment to supplying high quality seafood to local, national and international markets.

Finalists were announced in March via a press release and associated social media promotion. The Awards will be presented at an invitation-only cocktail event on Sydney Harbour on Tuesday 23rd April.

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

SUBMISSIONS

Sydney Fish Market welcomed the opportunity to submit to NSW DPI's consultation with regard to Total Allowable Catch (TAC) determinations for a range of species in the Ocean Trap & Line, Ocean Hauling, Estuary General and Abalone fisheries for the new fishing period 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025.

Read our submission.

SYDNEYSEAFOOD SCHOOL

Sydney Seafood School kicked off the quarter with healthy public class occupancy during January, which continued throughout February and into March. New classes added to the program have proven extremely popular.

These include ‘Mediterranean Odyssey’, 'XO Mud Crab’, and a new Indian-themed class, ‘Kerala and Beyond’. Classic SSS classes (including Singapore Chilli Mud Crab, Italian Seafood Feast and Seafood BBQ) continue to perform well. Guest chef Masterclasses with Phil Wood and Tom Walton were also well patronised.

Sydney Seafood School has been involved with content production and marketing activities to support both public and exclusive bookings, as well as planning for a new cookbook to be published later in 2024.

There has also been a significant focus on the new Sydney Fish Market building, to finalise the designs and devise the future programming.

INFORMATION FURTHER

If you would like any further information on the items discussed in this report, please contact Lauren Drummond, SFM’s Chief Marketing Officer on 02 9004 1110 or via email at laurend@sydneyfishmarket.com.au