Salmon price up

According to the weekly seafood report from Nordea Markets, price of Norwegian salmon is expected to increase next week.

Chilean harvest of red salmonids ended at 842k tonnes last year; this is up some 8% y/y in total, whereof the 24% increase in Atlantic salmon is the reason for the growth, as both Coho and Trout saw a decline y/y. The high volumes of Atlantic salmon coming out into the markets are perceived to be the main reason for the low salmon prices seen in the US market for Chilean salmon. The high average weights and also the increased availability have put pressure on prices throughout the last part of 2014 and also into the first month of this year.

Harvesting record in Chile

The Chileans set a new harvesting record of red salmonid in 2014, a total of 892k tonnes of red-fleshed fish were taken out of the Chilean waters. This represented an increase of 8% y/y, where an increase of almost 120k tonnes in Atlantic salmon was the main reason for the boost in volumes..

Expecting reduced supply pressure lift in price

Prices for Chilean salmon in the US market are still at a level below the average operational cost of production in the region. Prices in Miami are currently around USD 4 per kg HOG fish calculated back-to-farm, which represents a margin of a negative USD 0.5 per kg produced (compared to Marine Harvest’s communicated cost level in Chile). For sales to Brazil, we estimate price levels to be more or less at Break Even levels. The high volumes coming from Chile this year has been seen as the main reason for the weak price development, the sales offices in Miami have had huge volumes too sell and as a result, prices have been under pressure.