Large salmon in particular is proving hard to sell.
“This week has been really awful. Prices were pushed up too quickly. There is too much fish,” an exporter told SalmonBusiness in frustration.
“Chile dominates the air-freight market in the US and Asia. Air-freight prices dropped by a full dollar, so this week we’ve been selling at huge losses.”
The period with salmon prices above 80 kroner (NOK 80.00 / $7.84 / €6.80) therefore proved short – this time around.
Selling at a loss
“When the price got that high, people stopped freezing product. Customers can’t sell to their customers when the price hits 7.5 euros, they say. There aren’t many contracts left,” he notes.
He outlines the following farm-gate prices for next week:
2–3 kg: 65 kroner (NOK 65.00 / $6.37 / €5.53)
3–4 kg: 74 kroner (NOK 74.00 / $7.25 / €6.29)
4–6 kg: 75–76 kroner (NOK 75.00–76.00 / $7.35–$7.45 / €6.38–€6.46)
6+ kg: 74 kroner (NOK 74.00 / $7.25 / €6.29)
“We can’t get customers to pay more. There’s a lot of unsold fish. We can’t recover the price, and we can’t sell at a loss,” he says.
Several others recognise these price levels.
“Many are sitting on leftover fish after a tough week. The prices look reasonable, but I’m not sure we’ll manage to buy at these levels,” says a trader.
Sluggish
“It started early in the week and has just got worse and worse. There’s a lot of unsold fish being offered at 74–75 kroner in Oslo. Very sluggish sales. And in the US… many are complaining about the fillet market. Low prices compared with raw-material prices here,” says another source.
“3–4 kg at 72 kroner, 4–5 kg at 73 kroner and 5+ at 72 kroner. Everyone is referring to unsold fish, average weights are high and the market is hesitant,” says a buyer.
“We’ve now bought at 70, 71 and 72 kroner for 3–6, and 6+ at 70 kroner,” an exporter comments.
Temporary
All sources agree there is a wide spread in the prices being offered.
“It’s all over the place. There’s a lot of unsold fish. Most are somewhere in the 70s. One customer says he’s sold to Poland at 75–76 kroner,” says a farmer.
He believes the downturn will nevertheless be temporary.
“Underlying demand is strong and solid. The unsold fish will go cheaply, but a new level will establish itself on Monday,” he predicts.
