Norwegian salmon prices flat as Easter approaches
The price of fresh salmon in Norway has fallen for the fourth consecutive week and is now at its lowest point since the end of January.
According to Statistics Norway, which monitors prices in a regular basis, the fresh variety was down to NOK 106.19 per kilo (£7.88) last week (week 11).
Just a month ago, export fish was selling at NOK 111.25 a kilo (£8.26) with predictions that it would go higher as Easter approached. It now appears that, unless there is a late surge over the next few days, it looks as if there will be no Easter bounce this year.
Along with being the import important festival in the Christian calendar, Easter heralds the start of Spring, with more people getting out and about. It has fallen very early this year, however, which could be one explanation why prices are flat.
There is also a lot of production fish – fish which is fit for sale as fillets, but not of the quality suitable for sale as whole fish – which must be processed before it can be allowed to leave Norway. This factor could be keeping prices down.
Nevertheless, the predictions are for fresh salmon prices to start climbing again in the next few weeks, as figures from the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries show that the biomass is lower this year and is likely to remain so.
Demand remains reasonably firm, with fresh salmon exports by volume increasing by just under 1% last week to 14,619 tonnes, making it the highest total since mid-February.
Frozen salmon prices plummeted during week 11 from NOK 93.94 to NOK 78.18 per kilo, but volumes were up by 118 tonnes.
