After closing at almost € 5/kg last Friday, salmon prices are on the rise again.
“Since last Friday, we’ve seen a slight uphill trend. A few NOKs up, especially on the large sizes,” an Eastern European salmon trader tells Salmon Business. [factbox]
“They are trying to get even more, but the market is not there yet,” he adds.
His theory is backed up by all of the industrial sources Salmon Business talked to after lunch today.
Contracts
“There’s a slightly higher slaughter volume than previously thought. I have not bought anything yet, but I’ve heard that it’s a couple of NOKs up,” says a buyer at a major European processing company.
“We buy a little, we have very many contracts now. We have tied it at both ends, fixing both purchases and sales in contracts during the summer, and we’re also working to fix similar arrangements for 2018,” he adds.
Today’s prices show the following price range for farm gate salmon to be delivered next week:
- 2-3 kilos NOK 48
- 3-4 kilos NOK 50-51
- 4-5 kilos NOK 51-53
- 5-6 kilos NOK 53-55
- 6+ kilos NOK 60-63
Psychology
“We have a price increase, and it’s not going away. It’s a bit steeper than last week, but the market has contributed to the boost,” says a salmon exporter.
He sees several different drivers behind the rebound.
“There is psychology behind the increased activity of customers; the feeling that they make bargains or bad purchases. It is possible that there are reduced harvesting volumes. There is still some vacation period left in Europe, but the price picture from last Friday was so attractive that they increased activity.
“In the case of large salmon, there is still limited access to it and at the same time a strong air freight market.”
