Price correction after a peak before Christmas.
“With only three harvesting days, we got a price increase that the market apparently did not accept. This was especially the case with air freigthed fish. So then we got a weakening of the price again,” said an exporter to SalmonBusiness.[factbox]
On the day before Christmas Eve, the salmon price crossed 50 kroner (EUR 4.8) for the first time since midsummer. But it was a fairly short-lived upswing.
China trouble
“Next week there is full production again. Full harvesting week. Poland closes on Wednesday. Poland has proven to be one of the strongest fish buyers when the rest of Europe has proven to be so affected by frequent shutdowns. China is rattling its sabers, demanding a new import certificate, and this has led people to refuse to send large amounts of goods that way.”
He referred to the following farmgate prices for the first week of January:
- 3-6 kg NOK 45-47 (EUR 4.3-4.5)
- 6+ kg NOK 45-46 (EUR 4.3-4.4)
“The heavy salmon went under 3-6, a couple of kroner below. It is the big fish that get the most, due to the aviation market and China. I do not understand that people dare to send fish there.”
Back
“We are back to where we were two weeks ago. The price increase came due to few harvesting days. Then it turned out that the market wasn’t strong enough to take the price rise. So we got a setback that turned out to be valid into the first harvest week in 2021,” said the exporter.
He is making no secret of the fact that he is excited about the market development next week.
“I do not think that price will hold. End of the week (harvested) fish will be challenging into next week. There will be a small test next week. The tension lies in whether the market thinks the price we have now is interesting enough to maintain the purchase level throughout the week. If they find the price attractive, they buy. If they do not think it is an attractive price, they do not buy. And then we have a challenge,” he pointed out.
Half
“The salmon price is determined by supply and demand. It’s that simple. Right now there is high supply and low demand. The salmon price is halved. In week 1 this year, we paid 90 kroner (EUR 8.6) for the big salmon,” he added.
The trading activity in the last week of December is characterized by holiday mode after a demanding year.
“We made our purchases for next week last Tuesday. We took two weeks in a row,” said an importer and added that he bought the salmon at 46 kroner (EUR 4.4) a kilo. “The Poles are even lower. It will not be easy going forward,” he said.
