reLAKSation 135.
Easter
treats: Geir
Synnevag of Hjaltland Seafarms in Shetland told IntraFish that there has been a
10 -15% rise in salmon prices over the last couple of weeks. Prices in Glasgow
are around £2.15 to £2.20/kg for the most popular sizes. Prices have
traditionally risen towards the Easter peak. The IntraFish price guide shows
that salmon prices have risen to over NOK25/kg although this is well short of
the NOK 30 forecasted earlier this year by various commentators. Whilst higher
prices are clearly welcomed by the salmon industry, they are not so attractive
to consumers. Fortunately, the main UK supermarkets have decided to give their
customers a treat for the Easter holidays. Prices in British supermarkets for
fresh, chilled and smoked salmon, together with their usual price, are as
follows :
Asda
Fish
counter
Whole
fish - £2.99/kg down from £4.38/kg
Prepacked
Whole
salmon - £4.38/kg down from £5.04/kg
Coop
Prepacked
Youngs
salmon fillets 390g pack -£3.49 50% extra free
Smoked
salmon
Smoked
salmon 200g pack - £2.99 down from £5.99
Marks
& Spencer
Prepacked
2
salmon fillets 265g pack - £3.19 down from £3.99
4
salmon fillets 530g pack - £5.59 down from £6.99
Smoked
salmon
Smoked
salmon 100g pack - £2.49 down from £2.99
Smoked
salmon 200g pack - £3.99 down from £4.99
Smoked
salmon 500g pack - £6.49 down from £7.99
Orkney
smoked salmon 100g pack - £3.49 down from £3.99
Orkney
smoked salmon 200g pack - £5.49 down from £6.49
Morrisons
Fish
counter
Whole
salmon - £2.99/kg down from £3.99/kg
Salmon
fillets - £5.05/kg down from £6.05/kg
Salmon
steaks - £3.89kg down from £4.89/kg
Safeway
Fish
counter
Salmon
fillet - £6.97/kg down from £5.97/kg
Prepacks
Youngs
salmon fillets 460g pack - £3.24 down from £6.49
Smoked
salmon
Smoked
salmon 400g pack - £5.99 down from £10.99
The
Best smoked salmon 150g pack - £3.49 down from £5.49
Sainsburys
Fish
counter
Whole fish - £5.29/kg down from £7.99/kg
Prepacked
Whole
fish - £4.99/kg down from £6.99/kg
Salmon
side - £9.99/kg down from £11.99/kg
Salmon
fillet 380g pack - £5.99. Buy one
get one free.
Smoked
salmon
Smoked
salmon 400g pack - £6.99 down from
£9.99
Isle
of Skye smoked salmon 200g pack - £5.29 down from £6.29
Isle
of Skye smoked salmon 400g pack -
£7.99 down from £10.99
Somerfield
Prepacked
Whole
salmon - £4.99 down from £5.99
Salmon
fillet 260g pack - £1.99 down from
£3.99
Smoked
salmon
Smoked
salmon 200g pack plus 200g free - £4.99
Tesco
Fish
counter
Whole
fish - £3.29/kg down from £6.59/kg
Smoked
salmon
Specially
selected smoked salmon 400g pack - £5.99 down from £10.99
Waitrose
Fish
counter
Whole
fish - £5.19/kg down from £6.99/kg
Smoked
salmon
Ghillie
& Glen smoked salmon 400g pack - £6.99 down from £9.99
Threats
ahead: The
current EU investigation into cheap salmon imports has hardly got underway and
already the Scottish industry appear to be concerned that the EU will reject
their demands for safeguards. IntraFish reported that the newspaper Dagens
Naringsliv had taken an in depth look at the current situation for Scottish
salmon producers. William Crowe, the leader of the Scottish Salmon Producers
Organisation told the newspaper that their dispute with Norway is far from over.
If the EU does not implement safeguards as the SSPO demand, then Mr Crowe
presumes that Norwegian industry will be threatened with yet another dumping
case.
Mr
Crowe's comments appear extremely premature.
After all, the EU has clearly had insufficient time to assess whether
salmon imports have impacted on the European industry.
Surely, it would be preferable to wait until the EU report rather then
prejudge any decision and certainly before threatening any additional action.
The problem is that this small section of the Scottish industry will only
consider one solution to their ongoing dilemma and that is that imports of
Norwegian and other salmon into Europe should be drastically curtailed. This is
so they don't have to compete for market share against imported salmon,
irrespective of whether the competition is fair or not and more importantly,
whether there is a distinct market demand for this salmon.
In
Europe there is a market for both high quality Scottish salmon and lower cost
imported fish. The market size of
the former is relatively small; that of the latter is much larger. However, if
the supply of fish to this larger value for money market is curtailed, it does
not necessarily follow that consumers will be willing to buy more expensive
higher quality Scottish salmon instead. Sadly, the SSPO is unwilling to discuss
this possibility. Equally, they appear just as unwilling to discuss any
alternative strategy either. This seems to be a case of all or nothing.
This
stance, adopted by the SSPO, must be extremely worrying to the Norwegian
industry, not only because it might lead to further charges of dumping, but also
because FHL aquaculture recently held a unanimous vote to adopt the idea of
Producer Organisations. This is a
way of regulating the production of salmon in line with consumer demand.
FHL aquaculture was encouraged to adopt this strategy because it might
endear the Norwegian industry to the European Commission through their
willingness to adapt to European regulations. Yet, it seems that the Scottish
industry through their existing PO appear intent on only one form of regulation
- total exclusion of Norwegian salmon from the European market. The Norwegian
industry should be clear that the proposal to establish PO's was intended to
only regulate Norwegian production, not that in Scotland.
The
threat of further dumping action however, may be an empty one. The EC's trade
department is already engaged in an investigation of cheaper imports into the
European market. If they should find no evidence that these imports are
adversely affecting the Scottish industry, they are unlikely to be persuaded to
initiate a further investigation over allegations of dumping. We, at Callander
McDowell certainly hope that this investigation will draw a line under these
continuing allegations.
Nailing
the lies: In reLAKSation no
130, we at Callander McDowell, suggested that MEP’s, such as Struan Stevenson,
chairman of the EU Parliamentary fisheries committee, who had criticised the
Commission for postponing their decision to implement safeguards, should instead
use the opportunity provided by the investigation to seek alternative ways of
helping the salmon industry. Well, it seems that Mr Stevenson has taken our
advice. He recently organised a seminar in Strasbourg to discuss the current
crisis. He invited speakers from Scotland, Ireland, Norway and the Faroes to a
seminar; Farmed salmon – Fact & fiction. A spokeswoman for Mr Stevenson
told IntraFish that the main objective was to nail the lies and myths
surrounding the Scottish salmon sector and to open dialogue with our main
competitors to find a way forward that does not lead to a collapse of the
industry
After
the meeting, Mr Stevenson told Shetland-news that whilst safeguards would be
essential if it were proved beyond doubt that imported salmon had disrupted the
markets, he would much prefer not to have such political interference in the
marketplace. This is something of a change for Mr Stevenson as he had previously
expressed his disappointment that safeguards had not been implemented
immediately. However, he did say that the avoidance of a salmon war and the
creation of a new era of cooperation leading to rising prices would be a
significant outcome of this meeting. We believe that he is being a bit too
optimistic as this vision is unlikely to happen.
Firstly,
as we have already discussed, some sections of the industry appear intent on a
salmon war with Norway and other producers. They have their vision of how they
want their industry to be and this vision does not include sharing the
marketplace with imported fish. Secondly, Mr Stevenson hopes that there will be
co-operation between producing nations against a background of rising prices.
Prices may have risen in the run up to Easter, but they are unlikely to continue
rising, for no other reason than most consumers are unwilling to pay for higher
priced salmon.
The
meeting concluded with a proposal that a joint marketing approach was the only
way forward. We, at Callander McDowell are not so sure.
This
would not be the first time that the ‘European’ industry had invested in a
joint marketing venture. One of the terms of the EU salmon agreement was that
money should be diverted into a generic marketing programme. Part of this
continues on today through the internet. Recipes are dispatched weekly to all
consumers who had previously registered through either a Spanish, French or
German web site. An English version was added later. Despite a huge investment
from a tax on Norwegian imports, this joint marketing venture made little impact
on the marketplace. Estimates later suggested that the marketing programme had
increased the market by between 1 –2%. However, a better guide to its success
is that fact that market continued to experience disruption as soon as the
Salmon Agreement was terminated. This means that as a result of the marketing
venture, consumer demand was hardly stimulated at all. It is unlikely that a
further attempt at this form of joint programme will have any better success
unless the available budget can be increased significantly to that comparable of
more well known brands.
We
will watch with interest as to how Mr Stevenson progresses this proposal but we
wonder whether there might be even more that he could do. Mr Stevenson’s
meeting was by invitation only and took place in Strasbourg, not the usual
salmon farming venue. We would like to see Mr Stevenson organise further
meetings to consider and discuss all options, not just those in line with Mr
Stevenson’s views. With a major exhibition coming up in Glasgow, perhaps this
would present a better opportunity to discuss the all the options available to
the Scottish industry. It could be some months before the EU report on their
investigations, which gives Mr Stevenson plenty of time to look for the
non-political solution he so wants.