Just before Christmas, the price of Norwegian salmon plummeted, leaving exporters in a "stalemate dilemma."

According to exporters, the price of some salmon in the Oslo market this week has dropped to 76 Norwegian kroner per kilogram (approximately 6.08 euros/7.60 dollars), while last Friday, the price was still above 90 Norwegian kroner per kilogram. These low-priced fish are mostly "surplus fish" that could not be sold the previous week, and exporters are forced to clear their inventory at a discount. Several industry insiders described the current market as "almost like clearing corpses," causing many exporters to incur severe losses. The market has not yet determined the quotations for next week, but many parties predict that the price may drop by 5 to 10 Norwegian kroner per kilogram (approximately 0.4–0.8 euros) from last week. An exporter pointed out: "With Christmas approaching, the production of smoked salmon processing plants is basically complete, and fillet processors have also stopped taking orders, indicating a clear decline in demand." He predicted that the trading price for the first half of next week would still have support, but the price of fish for later delivery would continue to fall. Some aquaculture enterprises reported that the fish's growth condition has been good recently, and due to Norway's "maximum biomass (MTB)" policy, farms had to harvest early, increasing market supply pressure. Since most European processing plants have already closed for the holidays, the market's willingness to buy fish is low, and many exporters bluntly said, "No one is willing to take the fish." At the same time, large-sized fish (over 5 kilograms) are facing the most significant sales pressure. These fish are usually air-exported to Asian markets such as China, but currently face fierce competition from the Faroe Islands in this area. As of last Friday at 1 PM (CET), the transactions for next week's delivery had not fully started. Exporters stated: "We must clear the inventory of the unsold fish before we can determine the order price for the new week." The current market expectations are quite wide: · For fish weighing 3–5 kilograms, the price is between 80–90 Norwegian kroner per kilogram (approximately 6.4–7.36 euros); · For fish weighing over 5 kilograms, the price has dropped to 70–86 Norwegian kroner per kilogram (approximately 5.6–6.88 euros). One exporter said, "It is difficult to keep the big fish above 80 kroner." Another producer admitted, "It is almost impossible to buy fish at such prices." Under the dual pressure of slowing global demand and the mismatch of the pre-holiday consumption cycle, the Norwegian salmon market has again shown high volatility. The industry expects that prices will gradually recover after the holidays, but in the short term, exporters will still face dual challenges of funds and inventory.