New weakening for the coming week.
“It’s a little heavier here. For one reason or another, a lot of big fish have come in this week,“ said a fish farmer to SalmonBusiness.
“I hear 51, 52 and 53 kroner (EUR 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4) the main sizes. I know the Poles are down at 49 kroner (EUR 5.0) at 3-4 kilos. That is where we are now,“ he said.
The price decline comes at a time of year when one normally sees a strengthening of the salmon price.
Not canceled
“It’s a little surprising. There is no freezing and inventory that explains this. I talk to people in the market and they point to good activity in retail. So I have not canceled any price jumps for Christmas. I mean the same thing about December, especially, as I meant two or three weeks ago.“
“Globally, it looks ok. It is good in the US and strong in Brazil for Chile,“ he added.
Several players point to stable or falling prices.[factbox]
“Yes, 53, 54 and 55 kroner (EUR 5.4, 5.5 and 5.6) for 3-6,“ said an exporter.
“It’s been a difficult week to sell. Lots of big fish. I think the [salmon price – ed. note] will go down a bit, to 52-53 kroner (EUR 5.3-5.4),“ said another.
Heavy
“As we see it, we get 53, 54 and 55 kroner (EUR 5.4, 5.5 and 5.6) for 3-6 kilos. If it gets difficult at that level, we drop one krone. And then we are sure that we will sell what we have today,“ said a farmer.
“We are expecting a Christmas rush, and we do not think it will be overlooked this year. We take it easy, place only a few trucks, and keep the rest,“ he said, and made no secret of the fact that prices have weakened.
“For us, it is one to two kroner down. For our customers, it is more, since the currency has changed. So for the customers, it is much cheaper,“ he said.
Surprising
The main explanation several point to is more fish for sale in the market.
“It is a surprising price drop. We had expected declining volumes and rising prices. But then the harvest volume of large fish increased, which in turn has weakened the large fish market. And then there has been some harvest of fish around three kilos. There are some who have a lot of fish in the sea, and have to adapt to the MAB (maximal allowed biomass – ed note), and then there can be a lot of disease harvest as well,“ said a trader.
