Increased availability of higher quality fish is lowering salmon prices.
“The market has really taken a sharp fall this week. The question now is whether we are on a downward trend. Anything that is not placed and sold today becomes a challenge. The price level must go down to stimulate more demand abroad,” says a buyer to SalmonBusiness.
He mentions that prices for farmers are now between NOK 100 and NOK 110 ($9.40-$10.34/€8.70-€9.57), noting that it’s typical for prices to drop at the end of May.
“It’s the slight increase in volume in a strained market. Customers are buying other species and cheaper Scottish salmon,” he explains.
All industry sources confirmed the price drop on Friday.
“Prices are sliding back a bit, to around NOK 110 ($10.34/€9.57),” says an exporter. “There is a large variation. It will be between NOK 105 and NOK 110 ($9.87-$10.34/€9.13-€9.57), I guess.”
Terrible week
“It’s been a terrible week. Prices have dropped hard,” says another exporter. “There is so much fish left over from this week, so prices have to go down a lot more. And it will continue next week. This week has been short and the next will be longer.”
“There are more grown sores and less ‘production fish’ as sea temperatures increase. More in the superior/ordinary quality market,” he adds.
“Around NOK 100 on average ($9.40/€8.70), I would think,” says another industry source. “3-4 kilo fish from this week are going under NOK 95 in Oslo ($8.93/€8.27). I think – when next week comes – we will be below NOK 90 on everything under six kilos ($8.46/€7.83). That’s my guess.”
Calendar
“There is significantly less production fish, and then it gets like this,” says a buyer. “3-4 kilo fish go for NOK 100 max ($9.40/€8.70). 4-5 kilo fish for NOK 102 ($9.59/€8.87) and 5-6 kilo fish for NOK 105-106 ($9.87-$9.96/€9.13-€9.22). 6+ kilo fish depend on whether you can get them on a flight. The same thing happened last year. It’s easy to see on the calendar.”
“It’s heading below NOK 100 ($9.40/€8.70). It must go down towards NOK 90 ($8.46/€7.83) if everything is to be sold. And now more fish is coming. We need to get down to a level that customers can pay. This will probably happen during the next week. Customers have stock that they need to use now before prices become too low. We have created problems for ourselves with a dysfunctional market where superior quality is at one level and production quality is at another.”
A farmer confirms the price drop and explains what is driving it:
“Increased supply. Winter sores are healing. The production portion is rapidly decreasing, which helps to pull down prices.”
“But this is good. Prices at NOK 120-130 ($11.28-$12.22/€10.44-€11.31), driven by large numbers of prodfisk, are not good,” he admits.
SalmonBusiness gathers spot prices for salmon every Friday after lunch, tracking fish to be delivered the following week. This process involves contacting multiple entities in the value chain, including farmers, exporters, and importers. At least five independent sources are consulted, though they may not always be publicly disclosed.
