Problems are mounting for the Chilean farmed salmon sector, with prices now down at 2012 levels and production costs already well above other producing countries. Due to a range of different factors, demand for Chilean fish has suffered in all major markets and revenues are well down. In contrast, Norwegian farmers continue to enjoy high prices and resilient EU demand. In the wild salmon market, meanwhile, both Russian and Alaskan fishermen have been seeing exceptionally good catches this year. In Alaska, the total recorded wild salmon harvest is the second highest of all time, at 257 million fish. This is not good news for exporters, however, particularly when the US dollar is as strong as it is now.

Norwegian salmon prices started off 2015 around NOK 5 per kg below 2014 prices as high early year volumes had to be absorbed without the assistance of the Russian market. However, the situation reversed itself in the third quarter. Harvesting switched to a new generation, fish weights decreased, temperatures fell, biomasses dropped and the krone depreciated against the euro, pushing prices above 2014 levels where they have remained. Forward price consensus at Fish Pool would suggest that the market is also increasingly optimistic about Norwegian prices over the next two years.
For Chilean salmon prices, however, heavily depressed demand in the top markets has seen a steep drop in export prices to almost all destinations. In week 42, the price for fresh Atlantic fillets on the US market was at USD 7.23 per kg compared with USD 9.30 per kg for the same week last year. Meanwhile, in the wild salmon market, exceptionally good catches have kept prices down for pink and sockeye in particular.