But the big fish will stay at high levels next week.
“Anything under five kilos is under pressure. 5-6 kg is something in between and 6+ is a different story. It seems that the average size being slaughtered is low,” says an fish exporter to SalmonBusiness.[factbox]
“2-4 in particular, there is quite a lot of pressure on them. This week we have sold 3-4 and 4-5 at NOK 61-62 (EUR 5.9-6.0) and NOK 64-65 (EUR 6.2-6-3). For next week I expect it will move up a couple of kroner from that. There is a lot of leftover fish around, you just have to take it out first.”
Last Friday, the salmon was traded at average prices of around NOK 70 (EUR 6.8). Today it goes considerably lower.
Price pressure
“There is a lot of fish available in the last half of the week, which gives a solid price pressure,” says a buyer.
“Mid 60s?”
“We will probably try to chase a little lower than that. We try at NOK 63 (EUR 6.1) for 3-4 and NOK 64 (EUR 6.2) for 4-5.”
This means the second week in a row of falling salmon prices.
“These are turbulent times,” says a fish farmer. “Bigger spreads bwteen the sizes. Shortage of 6+. Prices have gone down this week, as it is a public holiday in Poland and France on Tuesday. So they don’t take in too much. Monday and Tuesday are also days off in Chile, which may lower the pressure in the US market.”
“We have sold for next week: 2-3 kg NOK 60 (EUR 5.8), 3-4 kg NOK 66 (EUR 6.3), 4-5 kg NOK 68-69 (EUR 6.5-6.6) and 5-6 kg NOK 74 (EUR 7.2).”
“We realized that there was good momentum in the 5-6 market, and now it is eight kroner from 3-4 to 5-6. Otherwise, there is a screaming shortage of 6-7, everything we sell goes to China at crazy prices,” he adds.
Buyer for stock
“NOK 5-6 less on fish under five kilos. 6+ is stable. Monday and Tuesday are public holidays in many markets. The markets are starting to be fully stocked with Christmas goods. We must harvest more fish, and the demand is not there,” says one exporter.
“And there is a lot of fish unsold. So it’s not a happy day. There is the greatest pressure on 2-3 and 3-4. There have been mcuh sales in September and October, which have been sent to stock. The currency has also fallen quite a bit,” he notes.
