The cost of producing salmon is on the rise across the
salmon farming sector – in particular in Scotland – according to a new
report.
The report, by Nofima, established that Chile was the now the most cost-efficient country for salmon production, while costs have been rising more substantially in Norway, the Faroe Islands, Scotland and Canada.“The driving forces behind the increase in cost are the same in all countries but are of different strengths. Chile has had a considerable improvement in biological results, clearly visible in costs. The Faroe Islands have lost some ground after experiencing larger challenges with lice and disease. Scotland and Canada have the highest costs, and while the increase has been moderate in Canada in recent years, it has been very large in Scotland,” said Nofima scientist Audun Iversen.
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The research, published as “Competitiveness of Norwegian farmed salmon: Cost and cost drivers in competitor countries” was undertaken by Iversen on behalf of the Norwegian Seafood Research Fund (FHF). He was joined by his Nofima colleague Øystein Hermansen and the analysts Ragnar Nystøyl, Knut Henrik Rolland and Lars Daniel Garshol at Kontali Analyse.
Expenses related to smolt, feed, salaries, depreciation, taxes and duties and “other operating costs”, where much of the health and lice costs are found, vary widely from country to country.
While Norwegian producers have costs of NOK 37.85 per kilogram in 2018 (slaughtered and packed salmon, excluding interest), Chilean producers are now down to NOK 35.40. This is approximately 6.5 percent lower than in Norway. There is also a marked change from the previous analysis, with figures from 2015, when Chile had a production cost 1 NOK higher than Norway.....
