Surprise fall for salmon prices

Just what is happening to salmon prices? That’s the question industry insiders are asking themselves this week.

After a steep increase which had everyone cheering just a fortnight ago, they have now suffered an unexpected sharp drop – in Norway at least. Even export volumes for fresh salmon have started to falter in the last few days despite the re-opening of the restaurant sector in a number of countries.

This contrasting situation shows the market is far from settled although it is not the same picture in every salmon producing country. Prices in Chile reached a near record high recently, while in Scotland they remain subdued.

Part of the reason is due to a large supply surplus in northern hemisphere markets which is sending prices down. According to Statistics Norway, the export price for fresh or chilled salmon fell to NOK 63.53 per. kilo in week 21, a drop of 7.2 per cent. Yet 14 days earlier they had jumped by almost 10% to just over NOK 71 a kilo, a figure 30% higher than in the same week  last year. The expectation is for further price falls to come.

Norway exported 15,977 tonnes of fresh or chilled salmon last week, 8.3 % than the week before and 3.6 per cent less than in the corresponding week in 2020 when the first pandemic wave was at its height.

Frozen salmon achieved an export price of NOK 57.07 per kilos, up 5.9 per cent from the week before and 8.6% higher than in week 21 last year. Frozen exports rose 44% to 403 tonnes.