Mowi has raised its 2026 harvest guidance to 620,000 gutted weight tons (GWT) after reporting record revenues and harvest volumes in the third quarter of this year.
The Norwegian salmon-farming firm generated revenues of EUR 1.73 billion (USD 1.9 billion) in Q3, while harvest volumes for the period reached a record 186,000 GWT, up 12 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, farming costs fell by EUR 51 million (USD 57.4 million) year over year.
Delivering the period’s results, Mowi CEO Ivan Vindheim said the “whopping” harvest was coupled with solid realized production costs across the seven countries in which Mowi produces salmon, averaging EUR 5.11 (USD 5.75) per kilogram.
Given good seasonal prices, this translated into an operational profit of EUR 275 million (USD 309.8 million), though this total came in slightly lower than its previous guidance.
“That’s a good result – a seasonal record-high and two and a half times higher than the EUR 112 million [USD 126.2 million] we posted in the third quarter last year.”
Regarding its falling farming costs, which for the first nine months of 2026 are down EUR 122 million (USD 137.4 million) year over year, the company cited strong cost controls and more efficient operations, as it continues to expand production.
Vindheim also explained that average salmon prices, which were up by as much as 18 percent year over year in Q3 and 13 percent so far in Q4, were driven by strong demand in most markets, combined with industry supply growth, which has now normalized around a low single-digit rate.
“The previously untapped production capacity is now more or less fully utilized by the industry, following very favorable growth conditions in the sea last year and this year. These price hikes are also attesting to the historical supply-to-demand ratio, which bodes well for the coming quarters and years, despite the once-again rising feed price, following weak pelagic fisheries this year,” he said. “The latter will hopefully be temporary, as fisheries naturally fluctuate by nature. But in the meantime, higher feed prices inevitably mean higher realized costs. At the end of the day, there is unfortunately no hiding from that.”
By production location, Mowi Norway harvested a record 133,788 GWT of salmon in Q3 2026, up from 99,444 GWT in Q3 2025. Operations in Chile harvested 23,638 GWT, versus 22,374 GWT previously; Scotland contributed 11,615 GWT, versus 17,399 GWT; Canada produced 7,443 GWT, versus 15,646 GWT; Iceland – via Arctic Fish, of which Mowi owns over 50 percent – produced 3,989 GWT, versus 5,400 GWT; the Faroes contributed 2,853 GWT, versus 2,367 GWT; and Ireland contributed 2,315 GWT, versus 3,010 GWT.
“I think we can say we landed on our feet in Norway,” Vindheim said. “Particularly in Region North, we continued to perform extremely well … It is our largest farming region by far and, consequently, extremely important to us. It’s expected to have almost 190,000 GWT of harvest volume this year.”
Mowi Consumer Products, the group's value-added processing division, also delivered a strong quarter, recording its highest-ever operational revenue of EUR 1.06 billion (USD 1.2 billion) and processing volumes of 84,359 metric tons (MT), up 18 percent year over year.
Similarly, Mowi Feed recorded its strongest-ever results and sales volumes. Its revenues increased 33 percent, and volumes sold rose 19 percent compared with Q3 2025 totals of EUR 387.2 million (USD 436.1 million) and 211,246 MT, with the growth attributed to favorable biological conditions in the company's Norwegian and Scottish farming operations.
Looking ahead, if Mowi realizes its new estimated harvest to end the year, which is 20,000 GWT more than its previous forecast, it would represent volume growth of 11 percent year over year, compared with expected industry growth of 4 percent.
“As for [2027], we expect to harvest 630,000 GWT, assuming normal growth conditions. So, not the fantastic growth we have seen this year because we cannot expect to hit the biological jackpot three years in a row, particularly not with an El Niño coming,” Vindheim said. “Now, I guess we need a new long-term farming volume target, and the number that naturally comes to mind is 700,000 GWT. It’s more a question of the time frame to get there, not to mention the investments and resources needed, because any growth must be profitable. Otherwise, there’s no point in growing.”
Pointing to the growth in volumes and revenues that his firm has achieved, Vindheim highlighted that Mowi is now not only the world’s largest salmon farmer but also the world’s largest seafood company measured across all metrics.
“That’s quite something, [coming just] 60 years after we started out in a closed-off bay outside the city of Bergen,” he said.
