The global harvest of farmed Atlantic salmon in the second-quarter of this year increased by 4 percent year-on-year to 472,900 metric tons (MT) but strong demand led to increased prices in all markets, according to Marine Harvest.
In its Q2 trading statement, the salmon farmer confirmed the total salmon supply from Norway decreased by 5.5 percent to 235,200 MT compared with the corresponding three months of last year, saying the decrease was slightly more than expected due to lower average harvest weights and slightly fewer fish.
However, the volumes from Scotland (39,200 MT), the Faroe Islands (22,000 MT) and Chile (117,300 MT) in the quarter increased by 11.7 percent, 23.6 percent and 26 percent year-on-year respectively.
The better than expected increase in Chile’s harvest was due to the recovery from last year’s algal bloom in Region X, with more fish harvested and higher average weights, said Marine Harvest.
In local currencies, the average price paid for salmon in Europe in Q2 2017 increased by 5.4 percent to EUR 7.22 (USD 8.70) per kg, while the prices in Miami (USD 5.82, EUR 4.83) and Seattle (USD 3.39, EUR 2.81) increased by 9.4 percent and 3.2 percent respectively.
There was a 3.2 percent decline in the global consumption of the product in the last quarter compared with Q2 2016, with inventory movements creating the discrepancy between supply and consumption. Some 23,000 MT of salmon inventory was released into the market in the second-quarter of 2016, whereas 11,000 MT of inventory accumulated in Q2 2017.
Marine Harvest said the inventory of frozen Chilean salmon has declined for about one and a half years on the back of a tight global supply situation and is estimated to be at low levels, while the inventory build-up in Q2 2017 is a sign of return towards normalization.
In volume terms, consumption in the EU decreased by 9.8 percent in the last quarter to 203,600 MT. The bloc’s key markets continued to grow in value terms, but in volume terms they are impacted by less salmon being made available combined with a lack of promotional activity.
U.S. consumption increased by 0.9 percent compared with Q2 2016 to 96,300 MT. At the same time, consumption in the Asian market (64,300 MT) increased by 8.2 percent thanks to growing exports from Europe, particularly of large sized fresh salmon.
