Prices for Norway’s farmed Atlantic salmon have remained very high at the start of 2017, with prices for fresh fish averaging NOK 72.42 (USD 8.63, EUR 8.05) per kg in the second week of the New Year. Though prices fell slightly compared to the previous week, they were up by almost 20 percent compared with the same week of last year and more than 50 percent more than in 2015.
With supplies staying tight, future prices of 3 to 6 kg fish will continue to be high over the coming months, with analysts expecting them to be at levels of around NOK 73.30 (USD 8.73, EUR 8.15) per kg next month, NOK 73.50 (USD 8.76, EUR 8.17) in March and NOK 72.20 (USD 8.60, EUR 8.03) in April.
The average FOB price at Norwegian Customs for fresh salmon so far this year is NOK 73.84 (USD 8.80, EUR 8.21) per kg, up 24 percent year-on-year, and 65 percent more than at the same stage of 2015.
The average price of frozen salmon exports, meanwhile, was NOK 66.87 (USD 7.97, EUR 7.44) per kg, up 39 percent compared with the same period of 2015 and 35 percent more than in 2015.
According to Norwegian Statistics, the country had exported 25,167 metric tons (MT) of fresh salmon – down 5 percent year-on-year, and 549 MT of frozen salmon (up 11 percent) by the third week of January.
Norway exported farmed salmon worth a record NOK 61.4 billion (USD 7.3 billion, EUR 6.8 billion) last year, an increase of 29 percent or NOK 13.8 billion (USD 1.6 billion, EUR 1.5 billion) compared with 2015. In volume terms, the trade amounted to 980,000 MT, which was 5.2 percent or 53,340 MT less than the previous year.
