Major fish farmers take responsibility and tighten the harvest volumes.
“People talk about prices going up. 2-3 kroner (€0.2-0.3),” says an exporter to SalmonBusiness.
“Some of the bigger fish farmers are talking about reducing the harvesting,” he points out, adding: “But we haven’t bought anything yet.”
“And then we’ll see what happens in the market. When you start raising the prices, they (buyers – ed. note) will not be happy. Some have frozen fish in store. As soon as prices rise they will probably take off,” he predicts.
Other exporters are seeing even higher price rises.
“Yep, 3-4 kroner (€0.3-0.4),” says one of them.
However, others, in a clear minority, see stable prices.
“I’d say it’s pretty stable. You do not get any rise,” says a trader.
“There is a lot of fish coming from both Norway and Scotland. We are already under pressure and much is frozen. Frozen inventories are being built – it is perhaps the largest challenge. They freeze in to have salmon for later. It is absolutely necessary to take away the fish. We do not consume all of it fresh.”
He sees the increasing freezing stocks primarily in Norway, Poland and Germany.
“Many of our customers have lots in stock. Even small customers have frozen fish in stock. They want their Christmas fish ready for a reasonable price,” he says, noting that the processing plants will run at full capacity for the rest of the year.
SalmonBusiness’ industry sources refer to the following farm gate prices for next week’s delivery:
- 3-4 kg NOK 40-41 (€4.0-4.1)
- 4-5 kg NOK 43-44 (€4.3-4.4)
- 5-6 kg NOK 45-46 (€4.5-4.6)
- 6+ kg NOK 50-55 (€5.0-5.5)
