The premium for the heaviest weight classes fades away.
“It has been a slightly falling trend all week,” says an exporter to SalmonBusiness.
“There is a lot of big Scottish fish. They have put pressure on the air freight market. And then there is a lot of big fish in Norway. The fish have grown incredibly fast. Some markets in Europe will actually pay less for 6+ than 5-6 (kilo).”
“With the big fish, there is a rather sharp decline,” another exporter comments. [factbox]
SalmonBusiness’ industrial sources refer to the following price level for the most traded weight classes of salmon for delivery next week:
- 3-4 kilograms NOK 55-56 (€5.5-5.6)
- 4-5 kilograms NOK 56-58 (€5.6-5.8)
- 5+ kilograms NOK 58-60 (€5.8-6.0)
This suggests a fairly small price deviation between the different sizes, and on average a decrease in price of 20-40 cents relative to last Friday.
“It is a market where the integrated [fish farmers] offer low prices to certain customers and higher prices to the exporters. It’s hopeless, chaotic. Too much big fish in the market. The big fish come simultaneously from Norway, the Faroe Islands and Scotland,” an Eastern European purchaser says.
“Chile has, of course, taken market shares on large fish and is still supplying it. There is war on big fish. Now we can get the traditional shift that big fish can go lower than 5-6 [kilograms] on price,” he points out.
“The poor quality fish have been harvested, and the good fish are coming now. That is the good thing, the quality is good.”
