Prices appear to be settling down below 5.5 euro.
“We had a good start to the week based on the prices we paid last Friday, but we noticed a weakening on Wednesday of 1 (kilogram fish) to 4 and 6 (kg fish). The overseas market took a lot of large fish at, surprisingly, the start of the week, but they had clearly bought themselves up early. The prices for big fish have come down quite a bit,” an exporter told SalmonBusiness.
“The supply isn’t especially great, but the demand suits the supply,” he said, adding that there’s probably a fear of imbalance on the supply side.
Stable
That means stable prices with certain negative undertones.
“For now, stable. A little down for fish below 3 kilo and down a lot on fish over 6 kilo in relation to the top range earlier.
“When the air-delivered market has its share, big fish have to go to the European market, and then the eagerness to put a big price on big fish just isn’t there. Then it’s more like the price for 4-plus (kg fish). The industry generally prefers a lower price on the 6-plus (kg fish), since their take is lower than on the traditional industry size of 4-6 (kg’ers),” he said, adding that they’ve seen little business today.
Want more
The general market view of laterally moving prices is shared by others.
“We have a week of higher prices behind us. And the salmon-farmers want a better price, but the market isn’t quite going along. As far as I see, nothing’s settled. I believe the day will be good and long, before they settle prices,” the buyer for a salmon smoker said.
“Often, when you see this type of picture, it ends up stable. You see the same prices in a week’s time. But, we’ll see.”
Tar tid
Five different market sources traced the following salmon prices (to salmon farmers) for next week:
2-3 kg EUR 4.40 to 4.70
3-4 kg EUR 5.25 to 5.65
4-5 kg EUR 5.35 to 5.65
5-plus kg EUR 5.45 to 5.65
“It’s gone pretty well. But, things are taking long today. Week No. 2 is a difficult week. Some try for 52 kroner (EUR 5.35) for 3 to 4 (kg fish) and rising up a krone to 55 kroner on 6-plus’ers (EUR 5.65). But, I don’t think that’ll be the price set today,” said a relaxed exporter not in a hurry to land the day’s first shipment.
More relaxed
Some believe in a weaker fall in prices.
“It’s going down now. It looked like it was going to be stable, but there’s a lot of big fish left. The air-delivered market hasn’t been as spry. The market is a little more relaxed now,” a trader said, adding, “But, let’s be clear about prices being better now than in December. Customers have what they need for the New Year, and they’re calming right down.”
