With just two weeks left until Christmas Eve, there is a buyer’s market.
“It has been a difficult week, especially at 5+ [kilograms]. 1-3 [kilograms] have gone well,” says a trader about the salmon price. “It’s not that big difference, but it’s a krone (€0.97) down. Most down at 5+.”
“It has been announced increased harvesting throughout the weekend. The smokers are provided, and then the fresh market must pull. But there are little promotions. There are big stocks lying and pushing,” he points out, and lets it shine through that he is not a price optimist.
“We will have limited purchases today. We buy what we have undertaken to buy. The market controls the market in a completely different way than before. They have stock. It is not we who decide.” [factbox]
It is busy, among the busiest of the year in the salmon market, and difficult to get rid of the sources. SalmonBusiness’ industrial sources refer to the following farm gate prices for deliveries next week:
- 2-3 kilos NOK 46-49 (€4.7-5.0)
- 3-4 kilos NOK 52-53 (€5.4-5.5)
- 4-5 kilos NOK 54-55 (€5.6-5.7)
- 5-6 kilos NOK 55-58 (€5.7-6.0)
- 6+ kilos NOK 58-60 (€6.0-6.2)
“There has been a terrible week on sale to be week 49. There were enough fish everywhere. We have done a lot of free work this week. Next week, more fish will come. On the customer side, they have enough fish,” says an exporter to SalmonBusiness.
“And then it’s a scary situation in France. It’s disgusting: strikes, protest actions that stops traffic. Customers are reluctant and cautious. They do not have insurance that covers things. Trucks with fish have been robbed so it’s not about taking big risk next week.”
“Today, market prices are a few kroner below what we gave last week,” another exporter says, and also notes that trout prices are currently under pressure.
Several market players indicate that prices are lower than expected, not least since the euro price is above 9.70 against Norwegian kroner.
