Polish processing factories are stocking up on fish.
In the first three quick weeks in January, Poland has traded 10,880 tonnes of fresh salmon from Norwegian exporters. To compare, import volumes were 4,713 tonnes in the same period in 2020.
That means an increase of 130 per-cent.
Poland is by far the largest buyer of fresh farmed salmon from Norway. France is second, with 6,211 tonnes, according to new export statistics from Statistics Norway and the Norwegian Seafood Council.
Read more: This has been the weakest start to the year since 2015
Difference
The main explanation for the big Polish volume hike is the price difference. While this year’s export price (delivered to the Norwegian border) has averaged EU 4.6, it was considerably higher at the same time last year, almost EUR 7.3. At the same time, week 1 had more shopping days this year than last year.
In sum, it facilitates a significant increase.
Nothing greases demand and develops new markets such as low salmon prices. And low it has been, at least from the normal that has prevailed over the past decade. Not since 2015 has a weaker January been recorded for the salmon price.
Plenty
The reason is, as is known, the covid-19 virus, which has shut down significant parts of the Horeca segment (Hotel/Restaurant/Cafes). Thus, the buyer side of price-conscious supermarket chains dominates.
The market is particularly burdened with big salmon. There is plenty of it, due to impeccable growth conditions in the sea in autumn and winter. At the same time, overseas markets, which prefer big fish, have reduced their purchases as a function of lower flight activity.
