Scotland’s salmon industry has not had its challenges to seek in recent years, and it is beginning to look like any recent optimism may have been short-lived.
Commenting on Marine Harvest’s performance yesterday, chief executive Alf-Helge Aarskog began by saying “2017 was a great year…”. That 26 word sentence was followed by a longer one which began: “However, I am concerned…”.
And so, in spite of the Scottish business of the world’s largest salmon producer achieving record profits of €153.7m, it will now have to cut costs as part of a wider €50m savings programme.
This has been done to mitigate rising costs and biological challenges which emerged in the fourth quarter of 2017 and look set to continue into the current financial year.
The contrast between the first three quarters and the last, both at a group and Scottish level, is striking. The reason is that growing harvest volumes are beginning to put pressure on salmon prices in all markets.
This comes after a major contraction in volume in 2016, mainly as a result of sea lice issues causing higher levels of fatality.
The market will need time to adjust to this, but Marine’s decision to implement admittedly modest cost cuttings perhaps indicates it will do so quickly.
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