Overseas markets, known for demanding large salmon, cannot absorb all the fish.
“There is heavy pressure on large fish. The fish are getting bigger and bigger, they grow fast. A lot of 5+. Almost everything we receive is two to three hectos heavier than expected. The European market prefers 3–5. In my world there is now a flat price on 3+,” a buyer tells SalmonBusiness.
“We can get much cheaper 6+ than 3–6. The airfreight market can’t take those volumes,” he continues.
Flat price
That means the same price for all fish over three kilos.
“NOK 73–74 ($7.23–$7.33/€6.28–€6.36) to the farmer on 3+. I know people have bought at NOK 75.00 ($7.43/€6.45) in Oslo. It’s a small decline. A decent drop on large fish, but for 3–4 there isn’t much of a decrease.”
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“And there is a bit of pressure on 1–2, there is some ISA slaughter of small fish in the north,” he adds.
“Those who freeze are done with it. Quite a bit was frozen in during August. And there is little ‘production fish’ at the moment. We have almost zero. So we get a more stable price,” he says.
Busy
Many market participants, both farmers and exporters, have in recent days been busy at the fish fair in Qingdao, China.
“NOK 75.00 ($7.43/€6.45) and down. NOK 75.00 ($7.43/€6.45) on the most sought-after sizes. It started early in the week, it has been difficult to sell. There is quite a lot of fish here. Chile has a lot of fish,” says an exporter.
Other exporters are hoping for an even cheaper entry.
“I wouldn’t have bought at that price, but I haven’t started bidding. There is a lot of large fish that has gone at low prices all week. Next week will probably be another week where many won’t buy if they can’t sell,” says a trader.
