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Spot prices for Norwegian farmed salmon have passed NOK 110/kg, Scottish prices are approaching £10/kg, and Chilean are on the rise too as Easter approaches[boxright]Salmon prices at a glance, week 15:Chilean trim-D sold to the US: $6.60 - $7.20 per kilogram, up $0.15/kg w-o-w for smaller fish Norwegian 4-5kg: Up another NOK 10 to NOK 110/kg Scottish 3-5kg: Up £1.40 to 'unsustainable' £9.60/kg [/boxright]Spot prices for Norwegian farmed salmon pushed past NOK 100 ($11.45) per kilogram to a new Easter record with Scottish prices following suit, while the recent dip in Chilean prices has also rebounded ahead of week 15, sources told Undercurrent News.The main story of recent weeks has of course been the record -- some have said "fantasy" -- prices for Norwegian salmon, and that appears to have only risen further in week 15."Just very limited fish available and the world going back to normal, so crazy market," an executive with a Norwegian farmer told Undercurrent. "There's not enough fish."He put prices for 4-5kg Norwegian salmon at an improbably high NOK 110/kg in Oslo markets, going up to €12.50/kg for delivered fish. In Europe, prices have also increased to an eye-watering NOK 119/kg for 5kg+ salmon, he added.Regarding the prospect of these price levels continuing for longer, he noted that the cost of everything else is going up as well. "But some processors who did not secure back to back on their contracts with their retail customers are struggling big time now," he continued. "Most retailers are doing okay as they have fixed-price contracts, but foodservice and promotions in retail will see an effect of this."Norwegian salmon-focused news outlet Salmon Business has also declared this Easter's spot prices a new record. Maruha Nichiro CorporationOne fish farming source noted that prices have gone even higher for the bigger fish sold on the air cargo market, and now range between NOK 115-130/kg. China, he said, is at NOK 125-130/kg, South Korea a little below this, and the US at NOK 115/kg for large 6+ kg fish. Gulgowski-RennerAnother source with an exporter noted that at these price levels, his company had simply stopped buying, adding that their Asian customer base had been noticeably shrinking at these prices. Clearwater SeafoodsUndercurrent reported recently that the cost of flying salmon from farms in northern Norway to Japan and South Korea has roughly doubled after Russia closed its airspace to European and Japanese airlines.[ucn_graph_iframe url="https://www.undercurrentnews.com/data/prices/#/norwaySalmonNDQ_1_2&start=455&end=469&compare=455,457,459,461,463,465,467,469&currency=NOK" /]In Chile, prices have also risen in week 14 as predicted, with a little more room to rise further ahead of Easter.Prices on the US market came up by $0.15/kg for the smaller 2-3lb fish in week 14, according to an executive with a farmer in Chile. He cited the Urner Barry Index for April 7 (showing prices for trim-D fillets destined for Miami, US) which put prices at $6.80-$7.00/lb for 2-3lb fish; $6.90-$7.10 for 3-4lbs; and an unchanged $7.05-$7.20 for 4-5lbs."US market is for sure on its way up with European getting better price elsewhere, so less supply ahead of Easter is having an effect," he said. "Heard the supply of smaller fillets decreased as well due to biological situation improved in Chile."A second source with another Chilean producer felt that farmers have been testing the market to see how much supply the US market can absorb at the moment without dropping off these price levels."There was a shift of 'can the market absorb it, prices are really good', then it adjusted. Clearly companies backed off, I saw the import records drop back again, and prices have again firmed," he told Undercurrent."They’ve got other markets, they’ve got Mexico, they’ve got markets in Asia, Brazil, they have alternatives. So they’re kind of playing with a mix to see where they can allocate their fish."Given that there is Easter and then Mother's Day -- one of the busiest days of the year for US foodservice -- just around the corner, he added that he expects prices to remain roughly in the $7.00/lb range for the next couple of months.DataSalmon's most recent data -- which extends up to week 12  -- shows that Chilean salmon prices have still not quite recovered to their previous peak in week 10:[ucn_graph_iframe url="https://www.undercurrentnews.com/data/prices/#/salmonex_miami&start=1&end=53&yearview=true&yrs=2021,2022&currency=USD" /]DataSalmon prices also show that levels on the Brazilian market have been on a relentless upward trajectory this year (below). The market has reportedly been undersupplied since mid-December, with importers demanding whatever they could get week after week, one such importer recently told Undercurrent. [ucn_graph_iframe url="https://www.undercurrentnews.com/data/prices/#/salmonex_brazil_monthly&start=1&end=12&yearview=true&currency=USD" /]Finally, Scottish salmon prices have risen yet again to "insane" levels, sources told Undercurrent.One source -- buying larger 3-5kg fish -- said prices had risen to £9.50-£9.70/kg ahead of next week, a situation he described as "crazy".It has been just two weeks since he'd said prices were at "record levels yet again, and Easter isn't even here yet". Since then, prices seem to have jumped by a further £1.40/kg.   Only for testing Runte LLC A second source, buying smaller 1-3kg salmon, told Undercurrent that prices earlier in the week had shot up €2 in the space of just four days, passing €12/kg to return to a level he described as €11.50+ (£9.60)/kg."Completely unsustainable. If processors don't get further increases there will be casualties," he warned, adding that prices have "never ever been this high".Looking at previous years (below), it's hard to argue that the price crisis facing the industry at present is unparalleled.[ucn_graph_iframe url="https://www.undercurrentnews.com/data/prices/#/scottish_salmon_large_weekly&start=1&end=53&yearview=true&yrs=2017,2018,2019,2020,2021,2022&currency=GBP" /]In February, Undercurrent previously reported that UK salmon processors faced a battle with their buyers as they sought to increase sales prices as the shortage of Scottish salmon began to bite.A farming source -- speaking under condition of anonymity -- updated Undercurrent on April 4, noting that supply conditions for Scottish salmon were still essentially unchanged.They pointed to global demand "far outstripping" supply, with no volume growth anticipated in 2022; low volumes out of Norway as well; and the Easter period -- the "peak period for sales" -- also exacerbating matters.[ucn_graph_iframe url="https://www.undercurrentnews.com/data/prices/#/scottish_salmon_large_weekly&start=254&end=275&compare=501&currency=GBP" /]Aqua-SparkNippon Suisan Kaisha

By Vaibhav | Oct. 4, 2022 13:00 BST
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