Despite challenges in Q3 2023, Mowi targets milestone harvest total in 2024

Mowi CEO Ivan Vindheim is predicting his company will set a “milestone” achievement with a 2024 harvest of 500,000 metric tons of farmed salmon.

With the delivery an all-time high harvest volume of 135,000 metric tons (MT) in Q3 2023, and a record volume of 484,000 MT projected for the full-year 2023, Vindheim said a 500,000 MT harvest is achievable for the world’s largest salmon faming company in 2024.

“We can and will do more. The smart farming concept, for instance, is just at the starting blocks. Not to mention the ongoing utilization and automization of our value chain. There is definitely more to come,” he said while delivering Mowi’s Q3 2023 results in Oslo, Norway, on 8 November.

In 2018, Mowi’s harvest volume was about 375,000 MT. Most of this 125,000 MT growth over the last six years has been achieved organically, according to Vindheim, with Mowi’s annual growth rate of 4.9 percent ranking ahead of the industry’s 3.2 percent average, and with the gains coming in a “low growth environment.”

“I cannot stress how important this is for us because farming volumes are, at the end of the day, the mainstay of our business model, and what everything hinges on in this industry," he said. "At the same time, we are 600 fewer people in Mowi than back in 2018 so it’s quite a transformational change we are going through on productivity throughout the value chain. I think we can say with humility we are in better shape today than back then."

In Mowi Farming Norway, Mowi’s biggest farming division, volume guidance for 2023 has been increased to a record-high 295,000 MT from 290,000 MT, following good fish growth and operational performance, according to Vindheim. Mowi has set its 2024 volume guidance for the division at 305,000 MT, above the 300,000 MT mark for the first time in Mowi's 60-year history, and up from 2017, when the segment’s harvest total was 210,000 MT.

“Crossing the 300,000-MT-mark in Norway is a milestone for the company and is cementing Mowi Norway’s strong license utilization and production efficiency,” Vindheim said. “I am deeply impressed with our Norwegian organization that continues to deliver growth and results.”

Alongside the best-ever volumes, Mowi recorded record-high …

Photo courtesy of Mowi