Mowi gets best deal in Norway salmon sites auction

Thirty fish farming companies bought a total of 27,189 tonnes of maximum allowed biomass (MTB) in the auction in production areas along the coast where the environmental situation is considered good, increasing Norway’s salmonid production by more than 3%.

The price paid varied depending on demand in the different production areas where capacity was on offer.

NOK 171,000 per tonne

Mowi bought 1,758 tonnes for a little more than NOK 300.5 million, which works out at a price of NOK 133m for a standard 780-tonne permit, or NOK 171,000 per tonne of MTB.

The farming companies that paid the most during the salmon auction this year are Gratanglaks and Salaks.

These companies have had to pay 257,000 per tonne of MTB and the price per permit for these has been NOK 244m. Gratanglaks bought 130 tonnes of MTB, and Salaks bought 100 tonnes.

Pricier in the north

SalMar, which bought the most capacity, paid NOK 1.76 billion for 8,057 tonnes of MTB. This works out at NOK 170m per permit, and NOK 218,000 per tonne.

In production area 1 (from the Swedish border to Jæren), one tonne of MTB cost NOK 156,000, and the price per permit ended at NOK 121 million.

This is a good deal lower than, for example, in the north, where there was higher demand. In production area 11 (Kvaløya to Loppa), for example, the price per tonne of MTB distributed was NOK 220,000. 

The second highest price level is found in production area 9 (Vestfjorden and Vesterålen). The price per tonne of MTB is NOK 255,000. A total of 3,855 tonnes of MTB were allocated in this area.

On the assumption that farmers can produce about 1.5 kg per year for each kg of MTB, and the cost of the MTB purchase is divided over 10 years, the extra cost for the newly acquired extra MTB will be NOK 17 per kg per year for those who have paid the top price of NOK 257,000 per tonne of new MTB.