A new week is approaching — the sixth in a row — with average salmon prices in the NOK 50 range.
“Flat or slightly up,” says one fish farmer about next week’s salmon prices. “NOK 55–56 ($5.39–$5.49/€4.68–€4.76) for 3–4 kg, NOK 58 ($5.68/€4.93) for 4–5 kg, and NOK 60–61 ($5.88–$5.98/€5.10–€5.19) for 5–6 kg. For 6–7 kg, China is paying somewhere in the NOK 70s, but we won’t know for sure for a couple of hours. I’m guessing the Lithuanian, Danish and Polish processors are sitting around the mid-NOK 50s.”
He notes that slaughter volumes remain high all along the coast.
Sea lice harvests
“Absolute volumes aren’t falling, but the year-on-year surplus should be coming down now. We’re reducing the biomass. There’s a lot of lice treatment going on, which means a lot of sea lice-related harvesting. That’s likely what’s keeping volumes up. Kontali had estimated an 8.5 percent increase in supply this August compared to last year — but it’s got to be a lot more than that.”
He says he’s satisfied with the prices, considering the high supply of fish.
“Yes, we’ve seen a more than 20 percent increase in recent weeks. That’s far beyond what Kontali normally expects for August. So it’s probably sea lice harvesting that’s bringing down the biomass.”
“We’re building markets. Quite a bit more salmon is being consumed,” he adds.
Adjustment
Several sources point to only small changes in salmon prices for the coming week.
“Relatively stable, maybe a slight uptick,” one exporter tells SalmonBusiness.
“Falling… at least from what the market is saying,” says another exporter, citing prices of NOK 53, 54, and 55 ($5.19, $5.29, $5.39 / €4.51, €4.59, €4.68) in Northern Norway for fish between 3 and 6 kg.
“The 3–4 kg and 4–5 kg sizes are a bit tricky. 5–6 kg is stable, and 6+ kg is a little up, from what we can see. NOK 47–48 ($4.61–$4.70/€4.00–€4.08) for 2–3 kg, 3–4 kg is at NOK 53 ($5.19/€4.51), 4–5 kg at NOK 54–55 ($5.29–$5.39/€4.59–€4.68), NOK 57 ($5.59/€4.85) for 5–6 kg, and NOK 64–65 ($6.27–$6.37/€5.44–€5.53) for 6+ kg. But the prices haven’t really settled yet,” says a third exporter.
“There’s definitely a lot of volume out there,” he adds.
