Ash clouds send salmon prices off the scale at local markets

By Xu Fan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-21 07:55

Salmon prices in the city have shot up as its supply is hit by the Iceland volcanic eruptions.[ Wang Jing / China Daily]

Supplies might run short if flights from Europe do not resume soon

Retail prices of fresh salmon flown in from Norway jumped almost 50 percent at some supermarkets in the capital on Tuesday, as European freight remains grounded because of Iceland's enormous volcanic ash cloud.

Several large supermarkets contacted by METRO said salmon supplies, which come primarily from Norway, might run short if European flights don't resume.

"We had to raise the price of salmon on Tuesday after our suppliers jacked up their prices by almost 80 percent," said Li Zhisheng, chief with the enterprise planning department of Sino-Japanese Ito Yokado.

Li said all salmon sold in Beijing's Ito Yokado stores comes from Norway, Europe's biggest salmon exporter.

"Salmon has a special characteristic of being a fresh and frozen product. It is hard to keep so we normally update the stock each day," said Li, who revealed salmon was the only European export seriously affected by Iceland's volcanic ash.

Prices of skinless salmon at Ito Yokado rocketed from 256 to 376 yuan per kg on Tuesday morning.

Employees at Carrefour said they haven't been notified to raise salmon prices on Tuesday, but urged customers to buy soon because "supply may run out".

Guo Lulu, chief representative with the Beijing office of Leroy Seafood Group, a Norway-based leading enterprise of exported seafood, told METRO all salmon exports from Norway stopped on Sunday.

"Very few cargo flights moved through the capital's airport last Friday and Saturday, but there have been none since Sunday, " she said.

Guo added the Beijing market accounts for roughly 15 percent of the nationwide demand, or around 30 tons of salmon per week.

"Southern cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou are the main consumers of salmon, since their residents like seafood more than Beijingers," she said.

She said Canadian and Australian suppliers were snapping up the chance to supply salmon to China while Norway remains netted.

"We anxiously check the Internet for the latest European flight information, but I predict supply levels won't recover until Friday at least," Guo told METRO Tuesday.

She said Norway's salmon slaughter was still suspended yesterday.

A press officer with the Beijing office of the Norway Seafood Export Council, said fresh and frozen salmon from Norway accounted for almost 90 percent of China's market.