No end yet to salmon price slide

In week 15, the period between 6-12 April, the export price of fresh salmon fell by 4.4% or NOK 3.96 on the previous seven day period to NOK 85.17 per kilo (£6.65).

Apart from the occasional “blip” week prices have now been falling steadily since the start of war in the Middle East.

Despite the conflict, export volumes remain strong. The week 15 figure was 18,610 metric tons, around 2,000 tons higher than during the week before Easter.

Norwegian trade press reports say that reduced demand is behind the continued drop in prices although it is not unusual to see a correction after the Easter holidays.

Uncertainty over the war is also playing a part. It is becoming increasingly expensive to shift fish by air as freight and insurance costs start to hit unsustainable levels.

There is also a lot of large fish swirling about in Norway at the moment, but buyers don’t want it. They say prices could pick up again if some sort of political and military stability returns to the Middle East, but few are holding their breath. Norwegian salmon farmers are also experiencing increased competition from other salmon producing countries.

Conversely, frozen salmon prices rose sharply by almost NOK 12 per kilo to NOK 75.37 per kilo (£5.89), with volumes more than doubling from 208 tons to 421 tons.

The Statistics Norway figures include fish sold on contract and all weight classes and qualities.