Prices At the wholesale level, most domestic and imported sardines are sold to food brokers, who in turn distribute them to independent grocers, chainstores, and so forth. Information on the annual average wholesale price of Maine sardines in oil is published regularly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The series of the Bureau represents the market price in New York City for sardines in soybean. oil, in a keyless lithographed can. To develop wholesale price. information on other types of Maine sardines, including sardines not in oil, and price data for imports, the Tariff Commission requested domestic canning firms and importers to supply information on the prices of each of their leading selling items. The price requested was the net sales price (i.e., the gross prices less all discounts, returns, and freight f.o.b. point of shipment in the United States) as of August 1, 1964-68, and February 1, 1969. The prices supplied by producers in Maine were for types that accounted for about threefourths of their total sales in 1968. Usable price information supplied by importers was for types that in 1968 accounted for over half of their total sales. Sardines in oil The average price reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for Maine sardines in oil on the New York market was $9.72 per case in 1961. Following the short pack in that year, the price rose sharply to $11.03 in 1962 but then declined to $8.79 in 1963 (table 22). From 1964 to 1968, the average annual price increased without interruption from $9.34 per case to $12.25 per case. The price index (1957-59 = 100) for Maine sardines in oil rose from 120 in 1964 to 157 in 1968--a gain substantially greater than for canned tuna, frozen processed fish, or processed poultry or meats, but less than that for canned salmon. Prices of Maine sardines, by kind of pack. --On the basis of estimates computed from responses to the Commission questionnaire, it appears that in 1968 about 63 percent of the total sales of Maine sardines in oil consisted of sardines packed in keyless, lithographed cans. Sardines in cans with keys, wrapped with cellophane or in cartons, accounted for about 14 percent of the total and the remainder, about 23 percent, was in pull-tab cans. Over the 1964-68 period the average net wholesale price reported to the Commission for Maine sardines in keyless, lithographed cans rose without interruption from $8.01 per case on August 1, 1964, to $11.48 per case on August 1, 1968, or about 43 percent 1 (table 23). Partly as a result of the increase in output in 1968, prices softened somewhat early in 1969, and on February 1, 1969, averaged $10.19 per case. For the most part, the range in prices quoted for Maine sardines packed in this manner is fairly narrow, amounting to less than $2.00 per case. For sardines of this description, the differences between the average prices reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and those compiled from the Commission's questionnaire reflect primarily variations in the basing point. Whereas the price reported to the Tariff Commission reflects the f.o.b. price, Maine canneries, the price reported by the Bureau is the price of sardines delivered at New York. After adjusting the prices supplied the Tariff Commission for transportation costs, the difference in the respective quotations is insignificant. Generally In recent years the price for Maine sardines with key, in cartons or wrapped in cellophane, has usually been $4.00 to $5.00 higher per case than the price of sardines in keyless lithographed cans--reflecting, chiefly, qualitative differences in the two products. sardines in containers with keys are from smaller fish; a small part of the key pack is in olive oil. Again, the range in the prices quoted for sardines packaged in this manner is fairly narrow, amounting, for the most part, to less than $3.50 per case (table 24). Over the 1964-68 period, the average net wholesale price for the key pack of Maine sardines rose from $13.20 per case to $15.09 per case, or about 14 percent. The net wholesale price of Maine sardines in pull-tab cans is generally somewhat more than $1.00 per case higher than the price for sardines in keyless lithographed cans. The price difference is attributable primarily to the higher cost of the pull-tab can. The average net selling price of such sardines rose from $10.47 per case on August 1, 1966, to about $12.67 per case on August 1, 1968, or by about 21 percent. On February 1, 1969, prices were slightly lower, averaging about $12.30 per case. Imports.--With respect to imports of sardines in oil, both the variety of merchandise offered and the range of prices are very much greater than those of Maine sardines. In terms of the kinds of packs, the imported merchandise varies from types similar to Maine sardines in virtually all respects (e.g., imports of sea herring from Canada in soya oil) to large quantities that are distinctly different (e.g., skinned or boned sardines and pilchards in tomato sauce). Whereas the bulk of the Maine sardines in oil are in keyless lithographed cans, virtually all of the imports in oil--with the exception of those from Canada--are in cans with key, wrapped in cellophane or paper. In general, the bulk of the imported sardines in oil are significantly higher in price than those produced in Maine. Nonetheless, a significant share is sold in the same price range as the domestic product. The distribution of domestic and imported sardines in oil, by selected price brackets, as reported to the Tariff Commission by questionnaire, is shown for 1968 in the following tabulation: On the basis of value, most of the Maine sardines packed in oil were sold in 1968 at wholesale prices ranging from $9.00 to $13.50 per case of 100 quarter cans; only a small part of the imports sold in this price range. About 15 percent of the domestically produced sardines were marketed at the medium price range ($13.51-$16.50 per case); less than a fourth of the imports were sold in this price range. Most (about 70 percent) of the prices quoted for imported sardines exceeded $16.51 per case in 1968. Only a negligible amount of Maine sardines sold at $16.51 or more. As shown in table 24, all of the 1968 wholesale prices quoted for sardines supplied by Venezuela, the United Kingdom, and Canada were less than $13.50--or within the range of the prices of the bulk of Maine sardines in oil. Canada is by far the leading supplier. A significant proportion of the Danish sardines (the smoked sild in sild oil) was also priced at less than $13.50 per case. A small share of the imports of smoked sild in sild oil from Norway was in this price range. About 23 percent of the imports appear to have wholesaled at from $13.51 to $16.50 per case in 1968. For the most part, these imports. were comprised of Norwegian sild (sea herring) in sild and in soya oil. The domestic sardines in this price range consist chiefly of sea herring in soya oil, with key, wrapped in cellophane. As noted the bulk of the imports sell at wholesale at prices that exceeded $16.50 per case. wegian and Danish sardines are priced above $16.50 as are all of the sardines from Portugal and Morocco. The quoted prices of the sardines in oil imported from each of the major foreign suppliers increased over the 1964-68 period although at substantially lesser rate than did the prices of Maine sardines (table 23). Weighted by the sales in 1968, the average price of all of the imported sardines in oil for which data were collected rose |