Salmon World 2021

Four takeaways from 2020

1.       The total supply of salmonids is down

Although the supply for farmed salmonids increased by 4% compared to 2019, catches of wild salmon dropped sharply by 37%.   The combined supply of all salmonid species in 2020 amounted to 4.5 million tonnes (wfe), down by 214.600 tonnes compared to 2019. This means a drop in supply of 5% in 2020, following three consecutive years of increase.

2.       Chile is an important driver for the global harvest growth of Atlantic salmon

Compared to 2019, harvest volumes of Atlantic salmon increased by 5% in 2020, ending at 2,7 million tonnes. Chile, the second-largest salmon producing country, was the key driver behind the global growth with volumes increasing by 13% to 778.000 tonnes. In Norway, the Atlantic salmon harvest volumes increased by 3% to a total of 1.369.000 tonnes.

3.       COVID-19 highly impacted the markets

There is no doubt that COVID-19 impacted the market, but perhaps surprising the is the variation in impacts.  Several markets saw an increase in the supply of salmonids, such as a 4% growth in the supply to the EU and UK market, a 6% increase to the USA, and a 9% increase to Japan. On the other hand, Russia and other markets saw 31% and 5% decrease in supply, respectively.

4.       Norway has the highest EBIT/kg among the stock listed salmon farming companies.

2020 proved to be a challenging year for the financial performance of salmon farming companies.  As a consequence of restrictions related to the COVID-19 outbreak, demand from the HoReCa segment was reduced, and prices dropped sharply. Financial reporting from the stock-listed players reveals that Norway was the best-performing region (among the five largest) on weighted-average EBIT/kg in 2020, slightly ahead of the Faroe Islands.

Read more by about key dynamics and details regarding the global salmonid market by purchasing our newly published report Salmon World 2021 

Image: Shutterstock by Svetlana Foote