Cermaq posts higher profits

Cermaq has been part of the Mitsubishi Corporation for more than a decade. It has just announced a nine month profit of 8.1 billion Japanese Yen (£43 million) for the period from April to December 2024. 

The profit was for the same period in 2023 was 7.6 billion yen (£40m).

Cermaq has operations in Norway, Chile and Canada. Mitsubishi said salmon farming was affected by a difficult summer last year with the price of salmon slumping to as low as NOK 68 per kilo.

“Since then, the market has gradually recovered due to reduced supply towards the end of the year,” Mitsubishi said.

Mitsubishi added that reduced supply towards the end of 2024 brought a recovery in the price of Atlantic salmon, and prices jumped sharply to around NOK 130 per kilo during the first week or so of this year.

The company pointed out that there had been a decline in the US fillet market last year which resulted in low prices.

It has been a roller coaster year for Cermaq due to issues in British Columbia, Canada where the government is forcing changes on open pen salmon farmers.

Prospects have been better in Chile where the company is building a new £25 million smolt facility in the Los Lagos region of the country.

In Norway the company was recently granted approval for its high tech iFarm to produce salmon for human consumption.

Also this week, Cermaq’s head of operations in Norway, Knut Ellekjær, announced he will be retiring at the end of May.