The seasonal weakening continues.
“It has started to roll out a bit. We have placed [fish] at 49, 50 and 51 kroner (EUR 4.8, 4.9 and 5.0) at 3-4, 4-5 and 5-6 kg,” said a fish farmer to SalmonBusiness.
“And then a combined exporter corps says that it is too high. We know they have lost a lot of money this week, so that’s probably where the the challenge is.”
That means a slight drop in price from last week.[factbox]
“We are going into a period now that we know there will be a lot of fish. But the shortage from Chile saves us. We have a lot of demand for fillets to the US. That is probably what makes us not go lower. There is a lot of volume. And then we notice that Horeca (hotel, restaurant and catering – editor’s note) in Italy and Spain is back. They pay more than processors elsewhere in Europe. We have 40-50 percent of our volume in Italy and Spain. And these are typical Horeca customers,” he explained.
Freezes fish
Prices have fallen steadily in recent days.
“It has gotten worse and worse throughout the week. People want those under 50 kroner (EUR 4.9), they want it at 48-49 kroner (EUR 4.7-4.8), but we’ll see,” said an exporter.
“The prices are quite flat – you do not get paid more for one or the other. There is a fair demand for freezing [of fish], but there is not much volume. I bet 49 kroner (EUR 4.8), that’s what it’s going to end up with.”
In that case, it means a small decrease from EUR 5.0-5.2 on average last Friday.
“The 50 kroner limit has been magical for a while. It has been hard to break,” he said.
A lot is coming up
Others are hoping for even lower prices.
“It is a steep decline. I hear 45, 46, 47 kroner (EUR 4.4, 4.5 and 4.6) at 3-6 kg. There are a lot of fish. You have to go down on those prices to sell. Customers buy at EUR 4.85-4.90 DDP (duty and delivery paid in the EU – editor’s note),” said a trader.
“There is no doubt that a lot of fish will come in the next few weeks. A lot of fish are being taken up at the same time,” he added.
“46, 47, 48 kroner for three to six kilos,” said another trader about the salmon price. “I think you see the effect of having harvested a lot of volume over many weeks. It is frozen a lot both in Norway and abroad to take away the volumes.”
