Good morning everyone, and welcome to the presentation of Mowi's second quarter results of 2026. Both to those of you who are in the room here with me this morning at The Salmon, our combined exhibition center and fish restaurant at the Aker Brygge, and of course to those of you who are following us online across the world, which is the majority. To those of you who are in the room here with me this morning, I hope you have settled in well, had something to drink and grabbed a bite to eat, a bite of some of our delicious Mowi products. To those of you who are following the presentation online, I hope you have made yourselves comfortable so you can follow along in quiet and peace.
Otherwise, my name is Ivan Vindheim, and I'm the CEO of Mowi. Together with our CFO, Kristian Ellingsen, I will take you through the numbers and the fundamentals this morning, and to the best of my and our ability, add a few appropriate comments to them. After the presentation, our IR, Kim Døsvig, will routinely host a Q&A session. Those of you who are following the presentation online can submit your questions or comments in advance or as we go along by email. Please refer to websites at mowi.com for the necessary details. Disclaimer is both long and extensive. I think we leave it for self-study. Without further ado, I think we are ready for the highlights of the quarter.
If we kick things off with the big picture first this morning, as long expected and also guided, industry supply growth dropped finally back to a more normal level in the second quarter, down to a relatively low single-digit rate of 2.6% unadjusted for inventory and 6.1% adjusted for inventory after a year of unprecedented double-digit industry supply growth. But on tough comparables, it will probably take some time before all of these new volumes are fully absorbed in the markets and prices recover. Because I think it's fair to say that prices in the second quarter were rather soft, especially to be our second quarter when we normally see very strong prices due to seasonality. I also think it's fair to say the prices have been rather soft through the summer as well.
Having said that, prices were still up by 6% year-over-year in the second quarter and 21% so far in the third quarter. From a low baseline, but still, these are two important steps forward after a period of very low prices. This is also attesting to the historical supply to demand ratio, which is an important element in the market and the price recovery story. For Mowi's part, coupled with good realized weighted production costs in the quarter of EUR 5.20 per kilo and seasonally record high harvest volumes of 150,000 tons, this translated into an operational profit of EUR 231 million in the quarter. Which is a good result, I would say, given the soft prices, and which is up by 23% year-over-year from EUR 189 million in the second quarter last year.
The numbers align well, I would say, because costs were down by 3.5% year-over-year in the quarter, with EUR 26 million in absolute terms, whilst volumes were up by 13% year-over-year, and prices, at least spot prices, were up by 6%, which with quick head math adds up to pretty much 23%, which was the percentage number that our operational profit grew year-over-year. Furthermore, turnover came to EUR 1.60 billion in the second quarter, and that is quarterly record high. So not only record high for our second quarter, but also a record high for any quarter on record, which says a lot about the volumes that went through our value chain in the second quarter.
On the cost side, we are now expecting relatively stable realized weighted production costs for seven production countries in the third quarter when compared with the second quarter, as previously guided drop in costs came already in the first and second quarter this year. Now we are also generally seeing a more inflationary environment around us, especially on the feed side following weak pelagic fisheries this year. Nothing dramatic so far, and some of this we can offset by changing the feed basket. Part of the story is also that we have hedged some of raw materials for feed for this growth season. As for next year, that is too early to have a clear opinion on today. I guess the short-term trend is up and upwards.
Having said that, bear in mind that the driver behind this feed price increase is weak fisheries, and fisheries, they come and go. So this will turn sooner or later. So this inflation is not necessarily permanent or very sticky. Let us see what the future has in store for us. Carrying on, when it comes to our two other divisions, Mowi Feed and Mowi Consumer Products, things are going well, I would say. It can be noted that the second quarter is low season for our feed business, with all that entails. So our numbers in the quarter for feed are a reflection of that. But adjusted for seasonality, it was another record-breaking quarter for our feed division. In Mowi Consumer Products, weaker contracts year-over-year continue to weigh on our earnings there.
Other than that, I would say things are going well in our downstream business too. The second to last bullet point, Mowi Canada East. As recently announced, we have entered into an agreement to divest our farming operations in Mowi Canada East for CAD 225 million on a debt-free basis. This is a 9,000 tons farming operation in Atlantic Canada, an area where we have never truly succeeded, I think it is fair to say. So this should be seen as a measure to further sharpen our farming portfolio and become even more focused on our remaining farming geographies. For those of you who are following our numbers, please note that this entity will be booked as assets held for sale until closing, pending competition approval. Closing, we expect to take place sometime in the second half of this year and probably closer to year-end.
Closing is subject to customary closing conditions. Now that's been said. Finally, as the last bullet point reads, our board of directors has decided to distribute a quarterly dividend of NOK 2.30 per share after the second quarter. I think that covers the highlights of the quarter, so then we can move on to our farming volume guidance. We begin with adjusting it slightly down for this year from 605,000 tonnes - 600,000 tonnes due to the agreement to divest our farming operations in Canada East. But 600,000 tonnes are still equivalent to a growth of as high as 7.4% year-over-year, driven by the acquisition of Nova Sea in Norway last year. Furthermore, we uphold our 2029 organic farming volume target of at least 650,000 tonnes. The latter, we will achieve through increased smolt stockings and with post-smolt, among other things.
Because we have still unutilized license capacity in Mowi in several of the countries where we operate, and with post-smolt, we can increase the productivity on licenses already in operation, which are to be set into operation. Mowi's farming volume growth continues unabated after a rather flatlining 2010s, I think it's fair to say, and is now surpassing that of the wider industry and our listed peers by a large margin, cementing our number one position in the market for the Atlantic salmon. Then from the overall volume picture to key financial figures for the quarter. There are a lot of numbers on this slide, so I think we will have to focus on the most important ones now and leave the rest for later in Kristian's session. Then we also avoid getting ahead of things and becoming too repetitive.
Total profit, we have just been through, so I think we can skip them here. Let's go straight to cash and net interest-bearing debt. We stood at EUR 2.81 billion at the end of the quarter, which is slightly higher than our long-term debt target of EUR 2.70 billion. But having said that, equity ratio was at a healthy 43% at the end of the quarter. So I would still argue we have a strong balance sheet in Mowi. Furthermore, underlying earnings per share were EUR 0.28 in the quarter, whilst annualized return on capital employed was 13.6%. Finally, in terms of regional margins through the value chain, there was quite a wide spread in the field also this time around, but narrower than last time around. We will get back to the explanations shortly when we go through the different business entities.
But first, further on prices in the quarter. As I said earlier this morning, as long expected and also guided, industry supply growth dropped finally back to a more normal level in the second quarter, down to a relatively low single-digit rate of 2.6% unadjusted for inventory and 6.1% adjusted for inventory after a year of unprecedented double-digit industry supply growth. But on tough comparables, so it will probably take some time before all of these new volumes are fully absorbed and market and prices recover. Because as we said, I think it's fair to say that prices in the second quarter were rather soft, especially to be our second quarter, where we normally see very strong prices due to seasonality. I also think it's fair to say that prices have been rather soft through the summer.
But on a positive note, prices were up by 6% year-over-year in the second quarter and as much as 21% so far in the third quarter. From a low baseline, but still, these are two important steps forward after a period of very low prices. Now we also are getting a helping hand from very limited industry supply growth for the remainder of this year, and also in the coming years due to regulatory and technological constraints. A tighter supply side should lead to a tighter market balance and better prices going forward than what we have seen lately once we have left this growth season in the sea behind us.
So this will be interesting to follow. Our own price performance in the quarter, which I would characterize as good, as it was 5% above the reference price, which is the standard we like to hold ourselves to in Mowi and against which we like to measure ourselves, as you can hear. Positively impacted this time around by a contract share of 19% and a small positive contribution to earnings from them, in addition to good harvest weights in the quarter and good quality of our fish, which alongside good sales execution, also laid the foundation for a good spot price performance in the second quarter. So with that, I think we are ready to start to drill down into the different business entities. We begin, as usual, with Mowi Norway, our largest and most important entity by far and the locomotive of our business model.
And if you take the numbers first, operation profit was EUR 159 million for Mowi Norway in the quarter, whilst margin was EUR 1.86 per kilo and harvest volumes seasonally record high 85,000 tons. In another strong quarter for Mowi Norway, both operationally and biologically, I would say, with good cost performance, as you can see from the chart here. Especially in Region South and Region North, we did well on margins in the quarter with EUR 2.15 and EUR 2.10 per kilo respectively, thanks to good cost performance and for Region South's parts, also good timing of the harvest. For Region West, however, it was the other way around as we harvested the lion's share of our volumes in that region in June in this quarter, and prices were at their lowest. So Region West took the brunt of the June price hit for Mowi in Norway.
And to illustrate that further, Region West costs in the quarter was on par with Region North, which says a lot. Finally, Region Mid's margin was impacted by two incidents of ISA, but nothing material as the last bullet point here states. Our volume guidance for Mowi Norway. We maintain our volume guidance for this year, as we can see from the chart here, of 380,000 tons, which translates to a growth of as high as 14.5% year-over-year, driven by, as I said, the acquisition of Nova Sea last year. The short-term goal on the Norwegian assets is, as we also can see from the chart there, 400,000 tons, which would be our next volume milestone in this region. The last slide on Mowi Norway, our sales contract portfolio.
Contract share was 19% for Mowi Norway in the quarter, and most were at spot on our guidance. These contracts delivered a small positive contribution to earnings in the quarter. As for the third quarter, we expect our contract share to be relatively stable with relatively stable contract prices quarter-over-quarter. With that, I think we can conclude Mowi Norway and move on to our six other farming countries. We begin, as usual, with Mowi Scotland. Mowi Scotland also delivered another strong quarter operationally and biologically, I would say, aided by very favorable environmental conditions in Scotland this year, alongside good husbandry by the organization. This materialized into a strong operational profit for Mowi Scotland of EUR 48 million in the quarter, representing a strong margin of EUR 1.80 per kilo on our quarterly record high harvest volumes of 27,000 tons in Scotland.
Then I think we can move across the Atlantic to the Pacific and to our Chilean farming operation. Mowi Chile delivered a reasonably good quarter biologically, I think I can say, despite some issues with rickettsia or SRS in the quarter. Soft prices and tariffs on our Chilean salmon into the U.S. continued to weigh on our earnings in Chile, and by extension, operational profit came in at a modest EUR 6 million in the quarter, reflecting a modest margin of EUR 0.34 per kilo on our seasonally record high harvest volumes of 17,000 tons. Consequently, there is nothing to fault with our volumes in Chile either, nor cost, I would say, only price. Then our second farming entity in the Americas, Mowi Canada.
Our Canadian salmon fare better than our Chilean salmon this time around, thanks to better price achievement, no tariffs on our Canadian salmon into the U.S., alongside good cost and good biology, and also the fact that we harvested almost all our volumes in Canada West in the quarter. Finally, we also got a helping hand from a EUR 4 million insurance payout related to costs previously expensed. All this translated into a very strong operational profit of EUR 20 million for Mowi Canada in the quarter, reflecting a very strong margin of EUR 2.05 per kilo on our 10,000 tons of harvest volume. Otherwise, a heads up on the third quarter and costs related to some seasonal issues with algae in July and August. This amounts to EUR 6 million and will be recognized in the third quarter.
Finally, as we said earlier this morning, we have entered into an agreement to divest our farming operations in Canada East for 225 million Canadian dollars. This is a 9,000 tons farming operation accounting for an insignificant 1.5% share of our total harvest volumes in Mowi, and should be seen as a measure to further improve the quality of farming portfolio and become even more focused on our remaining farming geographies. This, for all its sake, does not impact our operations in Canada West. They are operated completely separately. With that, I think we can move back from the Americas and to Europe and to Ireland and our Irish farming operation. Mowi Ireland also suffered from soft prices in the second quarter, which resulted in a break-even result on our 3,000 tons of harvest volume there. Otherwise, good quarter for Mowi Ireland operationally and biologically.
In the Faroes, however, we turn a profit of EUR 4 million on our 2,500 tons of harvest volume, reflecting a margin of EUR 1.58 per kilo in another good quarter for Mowi Faroes operationally and biologically. I think we can move further out into the Atlantic, to Iceland and our Icelandic farming operation, Arctic Fish. Arctic Fish made a small loss of EUR 2 million in the quarter on our quarterly record high harvest volumes of almost 6,000 tons due to low price achievement also in Iceland. Compounded, as you can see from the first bullet point here, by periodically harsh weather conditions and resultant downgrades. Other than that, things were good in Iceland in the quarter, and things have also developed well through the summer. With that, I think we can conclude Mowi farming and move on to Mowi Consumer Products, our downstream business.
Mowi Consumer Products is still feeling the effects of last year's rather sluggish contract market, and its earnings almost half year-over-year from EUR 52 million in the second quarter last year in operational profit to EUR 29 million in operational profit in this quarter. But underlying operational performance was once again good in the quarter, I would say, and we are still seeing good demand for our products, demonstrated by a 14% increase in sales volumes year-over-year, reaching quarterly record high 74,000 tons. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, they say. Last one out this morning, Mowi Feed. Mowi Feed can look back on a decent quarter, I would say, given the low season and everything.
Following on from this, operational EBITDA came in at seasonally record high EUR 16 million in the quarter, and sales volumes reached seasonally record high 147,000 tons, the latter up by 9% year-over-year. But the key takeaway from Mowi Feed this time around, I guess, is the completion of our expansion of the feed factory we have in Bjugn by 100,000 tons. Made possible by a CapEx of EUR 17 million and with a payback time of a little under three years. So a good investment in other words. This investment also makes us once again self-sufficient for feed in Norway after having to buy some feed externally for a while following the acquisition of Nova Sea last year.
Finally, our targeted sales volumes for 2026 are still 650,000 tons, which is equivalent to growth of as high as 11% year-over-year and aligns well with our farming volume growth in Europe. With that, Kristian, the floor is all yours. You can take us through the fundamentals and the financial figures. Thank you so far.
Thank you very much, Ivan, for a good walk-through. Good morning, everyone. Hope you are doing well. As usual, we start this session with the overview of profit and loss, which shows all-time high revenue of EUR 1.6 billion on record high Q2 harvest volumes. Cost performance in the quarter was strong, and the combination of better prices, better costs, and higher volumes led to higher operational earnings compared with the Q2 2025. Net financial expenses increased somewhat, driven by unrealized loss on derivatives. Earnings translated into return on capital employed of 13.6% and 15.1% return on equity. Underlying earnings per share was EUR 0.28, while cash flow per share was affected by tax payments and investments. We then move on to the balance sheet, which shows relatively stable total assets per Q2 versus year-end 2025. Mowi's financial position is solid, with an equity share of 43.2%.
When it comes to the cash flow, net interest-bearing debt moved from EUR 2.74 billion -EUR 2.8 billion during the quarter, so slightly up. Other investments are mainly related to the purchase of Torghatten Aqua's salmon farming business. In May, we successfully issued green bonds of EUR 250 million with tenure of five years and floating interest rate of three months EURIBOR + 118.8 bps. Apart from that, there are no changes to our financing. We leave it the rest here for self-study. Then, let's move on to some comments on costs. There was a cost reduction of EUR 26 million in the quarter and EUR 70 million year-to-date compared with last year. The decrease was driven by lower feed prices, but also other cost items are improved. As also shown in the graph here, we expect stable realized cost in Q3 versus Q2.
But of course, the underlying development is that the feed prices are increasing, and that means it is of high importance to continue with our cost-cutting measures and our cost focus. These measures, they follow two main angles. First, you have the operational measures related to post-smolt, Mowi 4.0, automation, efficiency, yield improvements, and so on. Secondly, we have the more generic cost measures, the cost-saving program, and the productivity program. These cost measures have helped us reach the number one position on EBIT. Sorry. As shown on the graph here below. This is very important, especially now in the inflationary environment that we have, that we maintain our strong cost focus in Mowi. Year-to-date, we have realized EUR 16 million in annualized cost savings through the cost-saving program. This is excluding the effects of realization of lower feed prices.
This is, for example, structural changes related to facilities, yield improvements, logistics improvements. So we are on track to deliver on our target in 2026, which is EUR 30 million. Since we started with these cost-saving programs back in 2018, we have reached a total of EUR 408 million, and we are talking about over 2,100 initiatives across the company and across also different categories as shown here on the slide. The major categories are boats treatments, procurement, and personnel costs. This is, of course, a constant battle, but as long as the salmon is a commodity, then the cost competitiveness is what it's all about. Operational productivity is something we can influence through automation, through working smarter. This way we are addressing our second-largest cost item, which is personnel cost.
Since the start of the productivity program in 2020, we have seen a very strong development on productivity in all segments, around 30%, as reflected here on the graphs. Measured then as tons per FTE in farming and in Mowi Consumer Products. Our plans ahead, they include further targets on productivity improvement in the company. When it comes to feed prices, we are now seeing an increase after a positive trend in 2023 to 2025. The current increase is driven by marine ingredients and a poor pelagic fishery season. There is a new pelagic fishery season in Peru coming up in November. It is too early to say how that will go. For Mowi, the raw material inflation is partly offset by positive effects from the Skretting partnership.
When it comes to the cash flow guidance, working capital tie-up is then also increased to EUR 150 million from EUR 100 million related to feed inflation. Tax payments have been increased somewhat to EUR 220 million. Speaking of tax, there are sometimes articles, comments suggesting that we do not really contribute enough. The truth is that Mowi is a major taxpayer, a major contributor to Norway. A recent study by Menon Economics shows that Mowi contributes with NOK 10 billion in direct and indirect taxes, which is actually 0.7% of Norway's total taxes, so quite high. We also contribute with value creation of NOK 29 billion, including ripple effects. That is 0.5% of the entire GDP. We contribute with over 16,000 jobs, which is 0.6% of the workforce.
We have operations in over 70 municipalities along the coast, and we are a very important key employer in many of these local communities. Then we move on to markets, starting with industry supply. The market supply from the salmon-producing countries increased by 2.6% from Q2 2025, and 6.1% adjusted for inventory movements. That means that growth is returning to more normal levels after a period of unusual strong growth. Demand was good in the quarter, with 9% demand growth as more volumes were consumed at higher prices. Europe and Asia are the drivers behind the consumption increase. In Europe, consumption increased by 8% from Q2 2025, driven by retail, where underlying development in retail is solid. We see good demand. Development was particularly strong in the U.K., Germany, and parts of Central Europe and Eastern Europe.
Foodservice saw demand also generally improving but still more price sensitive than retail. In the U.S., consumption increased by 3%. Fresh prepacked in retail, e-commerce continued to be positive, while somewhat softer in foodservice. In Asia, consumption increased by 10%. Growth continued to be particularly strong in China, supported by a structural shift in consumption and improved availability. The market fundamentals have yielded a positive price response in Q2, and even more so in Q3 quarter to date. When it comes to industry supply growth and indications ahead, for the rest of the year, Kontali estimates zero growth. For 2027, our growth estimate is 0%-2%, based on the current biomass composition. For the following years, i.e., 2028 and onwards, we believe in 1%-2% growth based on the regulatory framework we see in the salmon farming producing countries.
Our own volume guidance is 600,000 tonnes, down from 605,000 tonnes due to Mowi Canada East. I will pass it back to Ivan to conclude and to comment on the outlook.
Thank you, Kristian. Much appreciated. I have some technical issues here, so you have to bear with me. Right. Now I think it's okay. Okay, then it's time to sum up and give some closing remarks before we wrap up with a Q&A session hosted by our IRO, Kim Døsvig. To begin with, on a more general note, I think it's fair to say that the second quarter turned out to be another very strong quarter for Mowi operationally. Also, I think it's fair to say that it turned out to be a reasonably good quarter financially as well, given the soft prices. So I feel quite confident that when this quarter is closed and fully reported, Mowi will once again stand out for its KPIs. So credit to the organization for that. It's, of course, much appreciated.
Further on this note, I also think I can say that things have gone well through the summer, both in the sea and on land. Having said that, it's now over the coming weeks and months, the true test comes when higher sea temperatures set in, with all that entails biologically separating the wheat from the chaff. I guess a brewing El Niño this year won't make it any easier for us, but let's see. So far, so good, and nothing to report. Knock on wood. Otherwise, as we said earlier this morning, industry supply growth finally dropped back to a more normal level in the second quarter, after five quarters of unprecedented industry supply growth driven by previously untapped production capacity released by very favorable environmental conditions both in the northern and southern hemisphere last year and so far this year.
Now the industry is producing at full capacity, so we are expecting limited industry supply growth for the remainder of this year, but also in the coming years due to regulatory and resultant technological constraints. A tighter supply, we believe, will lead to a tighter market balance and better prices going forward than what we have seen lately once we have left this growth season in the sea behind us. So this will be interesting to follow. Carrying on the cost side, we are now expecting relatively stable realized weighted production costs for our seven production countries in the third quarter when compared with the second quarter. As previously guided, drop in costs came already in the first and second quarter this year. Now we're also generally seeing a more inflationary environment around us, especially on the feed side, following very weak pelagic fisheries this year.
But nothing dramatic so far, and some of this we can also offset by changing the feed basket. Part of the story is also that we have hedged some of our raw materials for our feed for this growth season. As we said earlier this morning, as for next year, that is far too early to have any strong opinion on today. But I guess the short-term trend is upwards. Having said that, bear in mind that the driver behind this feed price increase is weak pelagic fisheries, and fisheries, they come and go. So this is not necessarily permanent nor sticky. So let us see what the future has in store for us. Then last but not least, our volume guidance, farming volume guidance. As we said earlier this morning, too, we have adjusted it slightly down for this year from 605,000 tonnes to 600,000 tonnes.
But 600,000 tonnes are still equivalent to a growth of as high as 7.4% year-over-year, which is a lot in our industry. I think that covers pretty much what we wanted to say this morning. Then I think we are ready to start on the Q&A session. So if you, Kristian, can please join me on the stage and help me out with some of the questions, and then you, Kim, can administer the mic and orchestrate the questions from the audience and the web.
Christian Nordby, Arctic Securities. We have seen over the last couple of months and particularly the last month, very strong export value or demand growth. What do you think is driving this demand growth? Is it some countries? Is it retail versus food service? Is it inventory buildup?
We see definitely very good retail demand in Europe. We see some regions very strong, like U.K. We see Germany, we see Southern Europe, Eastern Europe. Retail is generally doing well. We know that we have been through a period of pressure on prices, on low prices, and we know that volumes have been high. The volumes have been consumed. So we definitely believe that we have built demand and built markets during this period that we have been through with low prices since 2025. Of course, there has also been some mentioning of freezing, frozen inventories. I think the fact is that the frozen inventories have really been built down in Chile. We see that, of course, there is always some freezing in Europe at this time of year.
But as far as we can determine based on the price dynamics and what we are seeing, is that there shouldn't be any out of the ordinary. You can also mention Asia, which has been very solid on demand, the structural shift in China, and really a big support in this period.
And one other question. We've seen that sea temperatures in Norway have been quite a bit colder recently. How does that impact you?
I think it's fair to say that, as we said earlier this morning, that the environmental conditions, they have been great last year and also so far this year. So extremely strong KPIs, which you see in our numbers, and I guess you see in the numbers for the rest of the industry. But let's see. Now sea temperatures are rising, so that could be a different ballgame. But so far, so good.
Okay.
Henrik Knutsen, Pareto Securities. You mentioned a brewing El Niño. Could you elaborate a bit on if you have done any measures in Chile, for instance?
Yeah, absolutely. We have upwelling systems, we have also oxygen systems, et cetera. We learned our lesson in 2016 when we ran into problems last time. Algaes in general are a seasonal problem in Chile. The same goes for Canada. I would say we are prepared, but how this plays out, no one knows really. It depends on how bad it becomes.
Do you think that, or is your impression that the industry as a whole is better prepared this time around?
Yeah, absolutely. We use every day to develop ourselves, and so does the rest. Absolutely. But again, it depends on how this evolves. No one really knows.
Okay. Last question from me. How do you see your Mowi Consumer Products division in the second half of this year compared to the second half of last year?
I think you should assume that we will see the same development, right? So very good operations, very good underlying operation performance, good growth, but weaker contracts will continue to weigh on our earnings also in the second half of the year. Then it is all about how will next year look like. Personally, I think it will be better.
Thank you.
Welcome.
Hi. Alex Aukner, DNB Carnegie. Thank you for the comments on the feed side. Is it possible to quantify slightly more the feed formulation flexibility you speak about? How low can you go on the raw materials in the feed?
We are in the feed business, and we also collaborate with one of the big ones. So we cannot talk about this in public. I just have to ask for your understanding. Apologies.
That's okay. Another question to you, Kristian. Some of your Chilean competitors have claimed the U.S. tax refunds in Q2. Have you had any positive effects from tariff refunds?
There's nothing significant in our numbers in Q2 related to this.
Perfect. Thanks.
Welcome.
Okay. Then a question from the web on supply from Setu Sharda, Barclays. He's got a question on your outlook for industry supply growth, having exceeded expectations over the past 12, 18 months. Can you help us understand what specifically gives you confidence in the low outlook? Is the conviction primarily driven by biomass data, harvest plans, inventory levels, or biological indicators in Norway and Chile?
Yeah. I would say that if you look at the biomass composition globally, it is relatively stable now year-on-year. Stable number of individuals. In Chile, the biomass is down. If you look at the temperatures in Norway in August, lower than last year. I think that is the main driver behind our assumptions here. And of course, we also already see that we are in the direction of normalization of supply. I guess we also have to remember that during this period, the last years, 2025, 2026, the industry has been running at very high utilization level biologically with limited room to exceed from there.
The driver here is regulation, right? The industry is producing at full capacity. What we saw last year and the first quarter this year was just that we utilized previously untapped production capacity. This is as good as it gets unless technology changes materially, and it does not. It would also take a lot of time. Just to look to numbers, the number of individuals globally is even Steven year-over-year, so 0% growth. If you do not have more fish in the sea, well then it rarely ends up as more volumes in the end of the day. I think you should look at what we saw last year and the first quarter this year as industry just filling the gap between regulatory limitations and operational capacity.
I feel quite confident that before we change regulation in Norway and Chile, which are the two big countries here, we will not see any material growth going forward. You saw the supply demand slide we had earlier this morning. This is structural and driven by, again, regulation.
Okay. Thank you. No more questions from the web.
Thank you. It only remains for me to say thank you to you all. I hope to see you back already in November at the third quarter release, if not before. At The Salmon perhaps. In the meantime, please take care and have a great day ahead. Thank you.