Stolt sees high market prices boost revenue and profits
Flatfish producer Stolt Sea Farm has reported revenues up by a quarter in the first half of this financial year, driven largely by higher prices for its sole and turbot.
Stolt Sea Farm is the aquaculture division of Norwegian-owned Stolt-Nielsen Ltd, which also has extensive interests in shipping and energy.
Stolt Sea Farm’s revenue was $77m (£57.5m) in the first six months of 2026, an increase of $15.6m compared with the prior year period. The increase was primarily driven, the company said, by higher prices, with turbot prices up 18.4% and sole prices up 6.2%, while sales volumes remained broadly stable.
The aquaculture division also reported an operating profit of $21.4m (£16m), up 18% compared with $18.1m in the prior year period. The higher market prices were partially offset, the report said, by higher production costs per kilo in turbot, as well as higher administrative and general expenses.
Looking ahead, over the longer term Stolt is predicting a decreasing wild catch of turbot and sole and the Stolt-Nielsen board believes that its strategy will support continued good results.
Stolt Sea Farm, a division of Stolt-Nielsen, is among the world’s largest producers of farmed turbot and sole, with 17 sites in five countries including Iceland, Spain and France.
The report adds: “Ongoing capital expenditure programmes aimed at increasing sole production capacity are progressing well.”
Upgraded hatchery opens
Last week Stolt Sea Farm opened its newly upgraded sole hatchery in Cervo, Galicia, The facility adds over 7,000 square metres of capacity, produces more than 500 tonnes annually, and creates 26 direct and 50 indirect jobs in A Mariña. The €13.2m (£11.3m) project was co-financed by European funds and the Galician Government.
The upgraded facility – which was already the world’s largest of its kind – will have an annual capacity of approximately six million turbot juveniles and 10 million sole juveniles. This will significantly increase SSF’s overall annual production capacity of sustainably farmed seafood to 8,500 tonnes of turbot and more than 3,000 tonnes of sole.
President Alfonso Rueda, President of the Xunta (regional government) of Galicia, who attended the opening, said: "The fact that a company of this scale continues to strengthen its ties with Galicia and has its global operations centre in our region is something for which we must be grateful for its confidence.”
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