Fifth week in a row with decline.
“It’s a little down,” said an exporter about next week’s salmon price to SalmonBusiness.
“It is one to two kroner down. On all sizes,” said another.
The price reduction takes place in a market that doesn’t have oversupply of fish. This is a source of concern for many market participants.[factbox]
Scaring
“There are low volumes when the price falls. It is not positive for the time ahead. It just shows what we have in store. It scares me that exports go down and the price falls,” he continued.
“We have lost lots of demand due to the corona, we just have to admit that. And it should not come as a surprise to anyone. And then we should have had less fish than last year. But we do not have that. It is the market that has to pay for the goods that determines the price.”
“We must expect low prices in the next six months – and that the fish that is not sold must be frozen. We do not have a market for all the fish,” he said.
More fish coming
Several sources point out that the large and fully integrated companies currently currently sell fish at lower prices than the independent exporters.
“The integrated [fish farmers] deliver 3-4 kg at 3.60-3.70 euros to Poland. It is low,” said an importer.
“Everyone thinks: When will we see the NOK 20s? Many harvesting stations will open next week. The safest way to not lose money is to do nothing.”
Freezer
At the same time, the fish that is not traded is sent straight to the cold store. This is especially true of Chilean fish.
“There is a lot of freezing going on, especially in Chile. I bet 100,000 tonnes. It is now that we get the real test on the corona,” he said and added that he trades a lot with suppliers in Chile.
SalmonBusiness’ industrial sources refer to the following farmgate prices, for delivery next week, for the most traded weight classes:
- 3-4 kg NOK 38-40 (EUR 3.5-3.7)
- 4-5 kg NOK 40-42 (EUR (EUR 3.7-3.9)
- 5-6 kg NOK 43-46 (EUR 4.0-4.3)
- 6+ kg NOK 50-57 (EUR 4.7-5.4)
