Mitsubishi Corporation, the parent company of Cermaq Group, revealed the salmon farmer saw an increased profit in the nine months ending 31 December, 2024.
According to Mitsubishi’s results, Cermaq posted a nine-month profit of JPY 8.1 billion (USD 53 million, EUR 51 million), an increase over the JPY 7.6 billion (USD 50 million, EUR 48 million) it posted in the same period of 2023. That made the company Mitsubishi’s highest profit company in its food industry segment.
The company said its salmon farming business was impacted by a decline in the market during the summer “as usual,” with the price for its salmon bottoming out at NOK 68 (USD 6.06, EUR 5.84) per kilogram in October.
“Since then, the market has gradually recovered due to reduced supply towards the end of the year,” Mitsubishi said.
Prices in the first week of 2025 spiked to NOK 130.59 (USD 11.64, EUR 11.21) per kilogram, which Mitsubishi attributed to a reduction in supply caused by the holidays.
The company also said the U.S. fillet market declined during the summer period in expected ways, with a low price of USD 5.50 (EUR 5.29) per pound in September.
“Since then, the market has gradually recovered due to reduced supply from Norway and increased demand towards the end of the year,” Mitsubishi said. “The price sharply climbed due to tentative low-supply in the year-end holidays.”
According to the financial results, Cermaq Norway produced 71,945 metric tons (MT) of salmon in the nine months ending 31 December 2024. Products from that market were shipped to Europe – Cermaq’s largest market – Japan, Asia, and North America.
Cermaq Chile, the second-largest farming region for the company, produced 65,112 MT of salmon in the period. It shipped salmon to every major market for the company, which includes South America, North America, Japan, Asia, Russia, and Europe.
Cermaq Canada’s production stood at 6,684 MT, with shipments primarily going to North America and Japan. Cermaq Canada has had to grapple with a phase-out of salmon farming operations in British Columbia, Canada, which forced it to cull millions of smolt and close some of its farms. Salmon production in B.C. is now facing a five-year time limit on in-ocean net pen operations, which Cermaq CEO Steven Rafferty said has created more uncertainty for the company.
“The objective the government has put forward in front of us cannot be delivered in this timeframe and is, in fact, logistically impossible in remote coastal areas due to lack of suitable land or supporting infrastructure,” Rafferty said.
Mitsubishi’s results also indicated it gained JPY 3.1 billion (USD 20 million, EUR 19 million) from the acquisition of additional equity in Cermaq’s affiliate in the three months ending 30 June 2024.
On top of that gain, over the nine-month period ending 31 December 2024, it posted a JPY 15.4 billion (USD 101 million EUR 97 million) gain related to its sale of Princes.
Mitsubishi sold Princes Group in May 2024 for GBP 700 million (USD 871 million, EUR 839 million). The company first initiated its sale of Princes in early 2023, but paused the process after bids for the company came in too low. It eventually settled on selling to Newlat Group in May 2024.
