Fresh salmon prices surging

THE price of fresh salmon has shot up by almost ten per cent during the past week, according to the latest statistical data from Norway.
It was running at 65.65 kroner per kilo at the end of week nine, an increase of 9.4 per cent, reports the financial news website e.24.no.
Prices have been swinging around and even topped NOK.70 at one point. The rise for the corresponding week last year was just under one per cent. Frozen salmon is currently trading lower, at NOK 58.95 per kilo.
Normally, prices tend to sag in the weeks after the Christmas rush, but it is a different picture this year.
Although higher prices were predicted for the start of 2019, they have gone higher and at a faster rate than most analysts had expected.
The surge has been put down to strong demand from Europe and the United States in particular, but some companies still have farms on shutdown, which has helped to keep prices buoyant.
And the Chinese market is also continuing to grow, although still not at the pace some salmon producers would like.
A few weeks ago analysts at Nordea Bank in Helsinki said the industry could expect prices of up to NOK 62 per kilo, but that was over a sustained period between 2019 and 2021.
Other forecasters have been a little more conservative in their assessments, expecting prices to average out at around NOK 60-61 per kilo.
Last week, the Norwegian Seafood Council announced that salmon exports last month had totalled NOK 5.1 billion, with an average price of NOK 58.94 per kilo.
If the current spike in prices continues for the rest of the month, then the Seafood Council may well be announcing a March record.