Good morning, everyone, both in the room and online, and welcome to the Presentation of Mowi's Second Quarter Results of 2022. My name is Ivan Vindheim, and I'm the CEO of Mowi, and with me today to present our financial figures and fundamentals, I have, as usual, our CFO, Kristian Ellingsen, and after presentation, our IRO, Kim Døsvik, will routinely host a Q&A session. Those who are following the presentation online can submit your questions or comments in advance or as we go along by email. Please refer to our website at mowi.com for the necessary details. Disclaimer, I think we leave for self-study as usual.
We are ready for the highlights of the quarter, which was another record-breaking quarter for Mowi, both operationally and financially, with an operational revenue of EUR 1.37 billion and operational profit of EUR 300 million, which means that the operational profit was the third highest to date, whilst the operational revenue was all-time high, driven by a good market, I would say, in addition to a strong operational performance on our end. A big thank you to my 11,500 colleagues in 25 countries across the world for their invaluable efforts in making this happen. It's, of course, much appreciated. For the sake, the operational profit of EUR 300 million is also in line with the guidance or trading update we gave in connection for the 14th of July.
Furthermore, realized blended farming costs was EUR 5.60 per kilo in the quarter, and but that's in line with the comments we gave in connection with the first quarter release, and relatively stable quarter-over-quarter. For all sake, this is the weighted or average farming cost for our seven farming countries. Cost of stock, on the other hand, was slightly down in the quarter compared with the first quarter, and the same was the feed price, which is the main cost driver in this industry. Further it is, we expect a stable realized blended farming cost for the third quarter, all else being equal.
In terms of farming volumes, we harvest 107,500 tons in the second quarter, which was somewhat above our guidance of 104,500 tons, due to first and foremost good growth in sea. We also saw improved survival rate year-over-year for the quarter. Otherwise, as in the first quarter release, a heads-up on FX or foreign exchange in the wake of the weakening of the NOK we saw in the first half of the year. Bear in mind that Mowi is a euro company, so we have hedged away the FX gain our Norwegian peers have benefited from greatly in the first and the second quarter. In the second quarter, this cost us alone EUR 42 million, or EUR 0.68 per kilo for our Norwegian farming volumes.
Please take that into account when you do your own benchmark comparisons for the second quarter. In steady state, this is of course, neutral when expenses have caught up with revenues timing-wise from an FX standpoint, and cash-wise, this goes much quicker than accounting-wise, roughly six months versus two years, I would say. When the NOK is strengthening, the reverse is true. The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away, although it has mostly been taketh away for our part of the past decade. Since 2012, the NOK has weakened, staggering 61% versus the EUR. Who would have thought that ex ante or back then? Nonetheless, nothing grows to the sky, and as said, in steady state, this is neutral for Mowi Norway versus our Norwegian peers.
Historically, euro funding has also been much cheaper than NOK funding, which is another weighty argument in this. Enough about FX for now. When it comes to other divisions, Consumer Products has delivered another set of impressive results in the quarter, I would say, actually, record high for a second quarter, and the same goes for our Feed division. The Feed performance was also strong in the second quarter, which was manifested in our farming volumes. Otherwise, right before summer, the Norwegian government's resource rent tax bill was, as expected, voted into law, albeit in a last-minute compromise with the least possible majority, where the marginal tax rate, including corporate tax, was reduced down to 47%, from 57% in the bill and down from 62% in the original proposal by the government.
Now we are in full swing internally with tax optimizing our value chain in Mowi Norway, and we will revert to the effective tax rate in due course. For sake, this doesn't mean that we will stop working against this, for us, very destructive tax and tax model. That work will continue unabated towards the 2025 election in Norway, and hopefully a new government coalition and a more business-friendly policy. To make it clear, we will also pursue our interests legally. Last but not least, the board of directors has decided to distribute a quarterly dividend of 2 NOK per share after the second quarter, which compares to 50% of underlying earnings per share, and as such, is in line with our dividend policy. Then we have adjusted for the new Norwegian resource rent tax with a conservative approach.
Much about highlights, then over to key financials. Kristian will, as usual, go in-depth on financial figures under his session, so as not to be too repetitive, we'll just touch briefly upon the most important ones now, and first, turnover. As you already have been through, Mowi recorded a record high 2Q operational revenue of EUR 1.37 billion, up by 11% year-over-year, on 5% higher farming volumes. Operational profit, we have also already commented on. It was the 3rd highest to date, adding up to a record high first half-year operational profit of EUR 621 million. First half-year operational revenue was also record high at EUR 2.73 billion.
Cash flow in the quarter, I would characterize as good, at least adjusted for tie-up of working capital and CapEx, and net interest-bearing debt, that came in at EUR 1.67 billion, somewhat above our long-term debt target of EUR 1.4 billion. In regards to the latter, we will revert to the long-term debt target when we have concluded on, concluded on our internal tax optimizing project. Otherwise, equity ratio was of healthy 48% at the end of the quarter, and underlying earnings per share was EUR 0.35, and annualized return on capital employed was 20%, both adjusted for the new Norwegian resource rent tax in Norway with a conservative approach.
In terms of regional margins to the value chain, Mowi Norway and Mowi France stood once again out positively, whereas our Chile and Canadian operations were negatively impacted with lower price achievement than for the salmon of European origin this time around. We will get back to the explanation shortly when we go through the different business entities. First, briefly about the prices in the quarter. As already said, we saw a good market in the second quarter, despite a drop in prices compared to the second quarter last year, due to a global supply contraction of as high as 7% in the second quarter last year, versus a supply growth of 1% in the second quarter this year.
Another takeaway from this slide is also that the price for the salmon of European origin was higher than the salmon of American origin, due to more influx of volumes in the American market, which obviously is the main market for the salmon of American origin. Quickly about our own relative price performance in the quarter, which I would characterize as good, as it was approximately on the reference price, which is the standard we like to hold ourselves to internally. Internal distribution, however, was a mixed bag and deserves an explanation. Our largest farming entities, Mowi Norway, Mowi Chile, and Mowi Scotland, respectively, was below, above, and on the reference price in the quarter, due to mainly contracts and then contract prices deviating from the prevailing spot price in the quarter. Total contract share for the group was 31% in the quarter.
The remainder of our farming volumes were exposed to the spot price, with all that entails of timing and quality differences. Quickly about the overall operational EBIT from the second waterfall. As you can see from the chart there, it decreased from then- record- high EUR 320 million in the second quarter last year to EUR 300 million in the second quarter this year. A decrease at least measured in EUR. Measured in NOK, however, the operational profit increased from NOK 3.2 billion in the second quarter last year to NOK 3.5 billion in the second quarter this year, which is close to record high, which was in the third quarter this year, with an operational profit of NOK 3.6 billion.
The mainstay of our business model is Mowi Farming, which had another strong quarter, but also the other business entities contributed with strong operational results across the board. It is a timely juncture to address the different business entities. First one out is, as usual, Mowi Norway, our largest and most important entity by far. Operational EBIT was EUR 206 million for Mowi Norway in the quarter, which was another strong quarter for Mowi Norway operationally, and actually the 2nd best 2nd quarter to date, only beaten by the 2nd quarter last year. EBIT margin was EUR 3.35 per kilo.
As we addressed on the highlights, as a euro company, Mowi Norway did not benefit from the weakening of the NOK we saw in the first half of the year, which cost us 42 million EUR alone in the second quarter, or EUR 0.68 per kilo. Adjusted for that, EBIT margin would have been EUR 4.03 per kilo, not EUR 3.35 per kilo. As already said, in steady state, this is neutral when expenses have caught up with revenues timing-wise from an FX standpoint, and cash-wise, this goes much quicker than accounting-wise. Otherwise, we saw a continued good growth in sea for Mowi Farming in the quarter, which laid the groundwork or foundation for seasonally record-high farming volumes of 61,500 tons. Shortly about the margins for the different regions in Mowi Norway in the quarter.
As you can see from the graph there or chart there, we saw strong margins for both Region North, Region West, and Region South in the quarter, with EUR 4.02, EUR 3.50, and EUR 3.82 per kilo, respectively. For Region Mid, margin was adversely impacted by very, very low harvest volumes, in addition to harvesting from problematic sites. As we announced in connection with the first quarter release, we have commenced our turnaround plan for this region, which we expect will bring gradually, gradually results for future year classes. The Norwegian sales contract portfolio. In 2021 and 2022, we kept our contract levels low for our Norwegian volumes to capitalize on the expected post-pandemic market recovery, which was a strategy that served us well. For 2023, we have maintained this strategy, which has been proven right, at least, so far.
In the second quarter, the contract share was 29%, and as you can see from the chart here, we expect a stable contract level for the second half of the year as well in volume terms. As for the 29. Sorry, as for the 2024 contracts, that's far too early to talk about today. Then it's time to address the other farming countries, and first one out is Mowi Scotland. Our Scottish operation enjoyed another encouraging quarter in the second quarter, I would say, after a biologically challenging 2022. Operational profit came to EUR 42 million, which stands in stark contrast to the EUR 21 million we made in the second quarter last year. Margin was up from EUR 1.60 per kilo to EUR 2.29 per kilo, whilst harvest volumes were up from 13,000 tons to 18,000 tons.
All of which have been enabled by better egg/smolt quality, in addition to better operation performance in sea. Which takes us overseas to Chile. Mowi Chile has also improved financial results year-over-year, with an operational profit of EUR 25 million in the second quarter, versus EUR 15 million in the corresponding quarter last year, driven by a higher margin, EUR 1.83 per kilo versus EUR 1.07 per kilo. Harvest volumes were stable at 14,000 tons. Despite improved financial figures for Chile year-over-year, I think it's fair to say that our figures were impacted by low or seasonally low volumes, and by extension, low dilution of cost, in addition to lower price achievement than for the salmon of European origin this time around.
Operating metrics, on the other hand, were strong in Mowi Chile in the quarter and improved significantly year-over-year. Farther north to Canada. Mowi Canada turned a profit of EUR 12 million in the second quarter this year, versus record high EUR 31 million in the second quarter last year. As you can see from the chart here, this is explained by both lower prices and higher costs, in the case of the latter, due to inflation. Harvest volumes are also slightly down year-over-year, from 10,000 tons to 9,000 tons. Biology, I would characterize as good for both Mowi Canada West and Mowi Canada East in the quarter, with no major incidents, as you know, the battle is in the third quarter in this part of the world.
It's time to address our two smallest farming entities, Mowi Ireland and Mowi Faroes. For the salmon of Irish region, we made an operational profit of EUR 2 million in the quarter, with a margin of EUR 1.40 per kilo on 1,600 tons. Both achieved margin and harvest volumes are substantially down year-over-year due to knock-on effects from a biologically challenging 2022. As previously stated, 2023 is set to be a recovery year for Irish operation. In Mowi Faroes, operating EBIT came to EUR 13 million, which is record high for a second quarter, by means of an impressive margin of EUR 4.58 per kilo on 3,000 tons harvest volume. Operating metrics were also stellar in Mowi Faroes in the quarter. The latest addition to the Mowi family, Arctic Fish.
In line with guidance, we did not harvest any meaningful volumes in our Atlantic operation in the quarter. Operationally, I would say things proceeded to plan, and we have resumed harvesting in the third quarter accordingly. We have also commenced commissioning of our new processing plant in Bolungarvik over the summer. Not too many hiccups so far. We have started up with Feed delivery from Mowi Feed and integration of sales in Mowi Sales, both with full effect from the fourth quarter. Finally, we have refinanced bank debt in Arctic Fish at substantially better terms. All of which are important measures to deliver improved operational and financial results in Arctic Fish going forward. I think we have already come a long way since previous quarter, which was our first quarter in Iceland. Much about Mowi Farming. Turn over to Mowi Consumer Products, our downstream business.
Consumer Products saw another impressive quarter in the second quarter, I would say, with an operational profit of EUR 37 million, which is record high for a second quarter and up from EUR 18 million in the comparable quarter last year, due to strong operational performance more or less across the board. In terms of overall demand, it was reasonably good in most markets in the quarter, I would say, and I think it's fair to say that we have seen a reasonably good development in demand so far in the third quarter as well, notwithstanding the economic slowdown we are facing globally. Last one out, Mowi Feed. Generally speaking, the second quarter is still low season for Feed division, with all that implies. That said, relatively speaking, I would say the second quarter was another strong quarter for Mowi Feed.
Operational EBIT of EUR 10 million is seasonally record high and up from EUR 6 million in the second quarter last year. Sold volumes of 116,000 tons versus 111,000 tons last year are also record high for our second quarter and confirm the improved growth in Mowi Farming year-over-year. As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Kristian, the floor is all yours for walking us through the financial figures. Thank you so far.
Yes, good morning, everybody. Hope everybody is doing well. As usual, we start with the profit and loss, where the top line shows all-time high revenue for Mowi of EUR 1.36 billion. That's on good sales prices and increased volumes. Revenue and volumes increased in all business areas. Combined with strong operational performance, this led to another good quarter for Mowi when it came to operational EBIT, although somewhat down measured in EUR from Q2 last year because of higher realized P&L cost. The main item between operational EBIT and financial EBIT is, as usual, the fair value adjustment on biomass. This time around, negative EUR 98 million related to the seasonal spot price development.
The income from associated companies, that's mainly related to our associated company, Nova Sea, where the operational earnings equals to EUR 3.82 per kilo, i.e., at the level of Mowi Region South in the quarter, and somewhat below Mowi Region North, although improved for Nova Sea from Q1. Net financial items, as we see, are very limited this quarter. Interest costs as expected. These were offset by currency gains. Underlying earnings per share, EUR 0.35 per kilo. Sorry, EUR 0.35 in this quarter. The Q2 estimate on the resource rent tax in Norway, that had a EUR 0.06 impact following conservative estimate. We will come back to that shortly.
Net cash flow per share, EUR 0.13, negatively impacted by a working capital tie-up and tax payments, but nevertheless increased from Q2 last year, and that's also the case for the year-to-date figure. Return on capital employed, 20.3%, and that's adjusted for the effect of resource rent tax in Norway. We consider that an extra cost of doing farming in Norway, and the unadjusted figure is 23%. Some comments about the resource rent tax in Norway. As you know, all know, the Norwegian Parliament has now approved the implementation of 25% resource rent tax for salmon farming in Norway, with effect from January 1, 2023, without any transition rules for the biomass in sea per January 1.
The total tax rate is 47%, including corporate tax, but only a part of our value chain is in scope for this resource rent tax, namely the seawater phase. In order to calculate the correct tax, it's important to determine the correct allocation of profits between the seawater phase and the rest of our value chain, as indicated here on the slide. A tax optimization project is ongoing to determine this. For the time being, and pending our internal project, as well as final regulations from the authorities regarding the setup of the tax, this is not yet fully clear.
For the time being, the resource rent tax for the earnings in the first half of 2023 is highly uncertain. Consequently, an estimate has not been included in the P&L for the resource rent tax on earnings in the first half. With regards to underlying earnings per share and return on capital employed post-resource rent tax, we have applied a conservative approach consistent with what we did back in Q1. In accordance with IFRS, we have, however, included a one-off implementation effect on deferred tax of biomass already in sea January 1, 2023. That implementation effect impacts P&L tax cost. We have some more details on that in the notes. What's important is to note that you can't use that implementation effect to make any final conclusions on payable tax.
This is deferred tax on the biomass. It becomes, of course, payable as you harvest the fish, on the other hand, you also get deduction for cost you have on the biomass, with the feeding costs, all the other input factors, you get, get deduction on that and the resource rent tax calculation. Again, this is an implementation effect that we, that we book now in the second quarter, and it does not impact our underlying earnings per share. The tax project that's ongoing to assess the value chain and the correct earnings throughout the value chain, that's ongoing.
We need more time to finalize that work, but we reiterate that we currently have applied a conservative estimate in underlying earnings per share and return on capital employed, and we will come back with an update on this in due course. A few comments about FX before we leave the profit and loss. Mowi is a euro company with a cash flow predominantly in euro, financed in euro. We will also come a little bit back to that on the next slide. That means that we remove currency fluctuations when we are a euro company and also present our numbers in euro. The NOK, as Ivan mentioned, has seen a significant weakening against the euro and dollars over the last decade. 61% versus euro and 97% versus dollars.
Quite considerable numbers, also leaving a question mark on whether or not it's natural to assume a continued weakening. The NOK weakening leads to FX gains for Norwegian peers, and that gain is related to the timing difference between how revenues and costs are impacted by FX. Revenue immediately impacted. Costs, there is a time lag, and the lag is a little bit different if you talk about cash or if you talk about P&L. Cash-wise, approximately six months before a weaker NOK impacts the cost impacted by currency. In the meantime, there is, of course, a gain, and this time period is much longer for the P&L, of course, because of the long production cycle.
In the meantime, there is a gain, and that's gradually reduced as time passes, and it's neutral then in, in steady state. The inverse is true when the NOK is strengthening, then there is a FX loss for Norwegian peers. The point is that Mowi has hedged away these effects. In Q2, the margin, the margin difference represents a loss of EUR 0.68 per kilo, for the Norwegian volumes, or EUR 42 million nominally. This means that the margin, the margin for Mowi Norway would have been EUR 4.03 per kilo and not EUR 3.35, adjusted for this. When it comes to cash effects, Mowi had a very real effect of cheaper financing in euro over time.
EUR interest rates have historically been significantly lower than NOK rates, as also indicated in the graph here. Over the past 10 years, Mowi has saved approximately EUR 100 million on being financed in EUR. Consequently, we maintain that we have the right FX strategy. We eliminate FX fluctuations, and also we have cheaper financing. We move on to the balance sheet. The amounts are relatively stable compared with year-end 2022. Mowi has strong financial position, with a covenant equity ratio of 51.1% after implementing the resource rent tax in Norway. Adjusted for this, it would have been 53.7%. The strong operational earnings were partly offset by tax payments and working capital tie-up.
Accordingly, net interest-bearing debt moved from EUR 1.64 billion to EUR 1.67 billion. We come back to the NIBD target, currently at EUR 1.4 billion, when we have more insight in this internal tax project, as well as on the regulatory side. Some comments about the cash flow guidance. With regards to working capital, the positive working capital effects of cheaper non-marine feed ingredients are delayed. That's because of the high fish oil and fish meal prices. In addition, we are growing volumes throughout our value chain, and that also ties up working capital. This delay in related to the feed price development has caused us to revise the estimate, also with a look on the working capital tie-up due to the growth in the value chain, and the new estimate is a tie-up of EUR 100 million.
With regards to CapEx, the estimate of EUR 380 million is unchanged, including EUR 40 million from Arctic Fish. Interest payments forecasted to EUR 85 million, and tax payments at EUR 175 million. When it comes to our financing, we exercised the EUR 200 million accordion option in the bank, bank syndicate, and that has been utilized to repay the 2018 EUR 200 million bond in the second quarter.
Apart from that, there are no changes to the Mowi financing as such, but with regards to Arctic Fish, that company has been refinanced to a new EUR 170 million facility at significantly improved terms. We move on to supply and demand fundamentals. Start with the supply. As shown on the slide here, global supply of salmon increased by 0.8% from Q2 last year. That's in line with the guidance we gave. Harvest volumes from Norway increased by 3%. That's at the low end of the guided range. The number of fish harvested increased following higher smolt stocking. Also, growth was good in the quarter, and standing biomass at sea increased somewhat. volumes from Chile increased 7%.
That's above guidance, that's mainly related to early harvesting due to sanitary conditions. Standing biomass in June is down approximately 1% in Chile. In Scotland, volumes increased by 5%, in line with the guidance. That's on higher temperatures, which boosted the growth, also might, of course, impact biological performance now in the second half of the year. Volumes from the Faroes reduced by 14%. That's below guidance, that's related to biomass buildup in the region and somewhat reduced biological performance. Also, volumes from North America reduced by 16% due to reduced number of licenses. Yeah, consumption increased by 0.3%, on par with the supply growth. In Europe, somewhat reduced retail volumes, partly offset by increased food service activity.
Retail volumes improved in June, with increased volumes in several markets, including Germany, Italy, and Spain. Absolutely, the salmon continues to fare well, also in challenging economic times. Also, we believe that promotional activity in the time ahead, when volumes are high, is expected to further drive end market growth. In the U.S., retail volumes were also somewhat down, partly helped by higher food service volumes. Despite a higher cost of living and an uncertain economic outlook, overall salmon demand remained relatively robust in the U.S. The U.S. salmon category has grown steadily now for many years and has reached a very impressive 23% global market share. In Asia, volumes increased by as much as 12%, driven by a strong development in China from COVID-19 reopenings.
As China's demand continued to recover, some other Asian markets faced lack of large-sized fish, resulting in reduced volumes. Freight costs continued to improve during the second quarter, which is expected to be positive for the coming periods. Of course, Q2, another strong quarter when it came to prices, with the spot prices for Norway, Chile, and Canada, second-highest levels ever for a second quarter. This was driven by good demand and low supply growth. The quarterly spot prices declined from last year's record-high levels. That's where, t hose were, of course, fueled by a post-pandemic recovery and a global supply contraction last year. As expected, spot prices also declined during the quarter on increased supply and the seasonal wild salmon harvest in North America.
We maintain a view on modest growth going forward. We maintain the 1% growth expectation for the industry for 2023, and for the second half of the year, we expect modest 3% growth, and the same for the next 12 months. When it goes to Mowi's own volumes, we maintain the guiding of 484,000 tons, and we have a guiding of 137,000 tons now in Q3. It's over to Ivan for some comments on the outlook slide.
Thank you, Kristian. Much appreciated. It's time to conclude with some closing remarks before we wrap it all up with our Q&A session, hosted by our IRO, Kim Døsvik. As already said earlier this morning, the second quarter was another record-breaking quarter for Mowi, both operationally and financially, and I think it's fair to say that we are, in particular, satisfied with delivering improved operating metrics more or less across the board. In terms of the markets and impacts from increased cost of living, we are preferably humble in our understanding of how things are going to develop with regard to demand going forward. As Kristian just said here, normally the salmon fares well in challenging economic times, and personally, I must say, I'm impressed by the level of robustness we've seen in the market for the salmon so far.
As for the supply side, which is the other decisive factor in the price equation, we expect, as usual, to see seasonally high volumes in the coming months before things start slowing down towards Christmas. In medium term, however, we still expect modest supply growth, which, under normal circumstances, should be supportive for the salmon price. In terms of farming volume guidance for 2023, we have, as Kristian just showed us here, maintained it at 484,000 tons, which is equivalent to a growth of 4.4% year-over-year, which is 3 percentage points higher than the expected industry growth this year, and a continuation of the growth trajectory we have seen for Mowi over the past few years, surpassing that of the wider industry. Much about the operations, then over to politics.
As also said earlier this morning, right before summer, the Norwegian government's resource rent tax bill was, as expected, voted into law, albeit in a last-minute compromise with the least possible majority, but the marginal tax rate, including corporate tax, was reduced down to 47%, from 57% in the bill and from 62% in the original proposal by the government. As said, now we are in full swing internally with tax optimizing our value chain in Mowi Norway, and we will revert with a new effective tax rate for Mowi Norway in due course. As also stated earlier this morning, this doesn't mean that we will stop working against this, for us, very destructive tax and tax model.
That work will continue unabated towards the 2025 election in Norway, and hopefully a new government coalition and a more business-friendly policy. To make it clear, we will also pursue our interests legally. With these closing remarks, Kim, I think we are ready for the Q&A session. If Kristian can please join me on the stage.
Hello, Alexander Aukner from DNB Markets. Three questions from me. Could you give an estimate on resource tax in Q2? Are you making any changes to your Feed composition to combat the higher raw material prices? Finally, how's the contract market? Your contract share still seems to be fairly low.
Yes. Shall we start with the tax, Kristian?
We can do that. Of course, this being an implementation quarter, second quarter, is a little bit complicated, of course. I just want to point out that when it goes to the tax cost, there is no provision for running earnings in the first half and the tax effect on those, and that's because it's still uncertain, and we need to come further with our own internal project and also to have more visibility on the regulatory side. We have indicated by using the same conservative approach as back in Q1, that it will have around a EUR 0.06 impact on underlying earnings per share. That's the impact we have calculated on that alternative performance measure, but we have not included it in the tax cost. Yeah, so, so that's at least an answer on the resource and tax for Q2 isolated.
Yes, question number two, number two was the feed prices, if we do anything with our feed formula, given the rise in the feed price. I guess then you are first and foremost referring to the price in NOK. We are in euro terms. We, as we said earlier in this presentation, we saw actually a slight decrease in the second half of the year, sorry, in the second quarter, we don't see the same increase in euro. Having said that, we are constantly monitoring our feed formula with respect to the cost, of course, but also with respect to performance. If we are to pick, we always pick performance. That.
In a good market, that, that always trumpet feed price. The third part of your question was related to, to contracts. As we said earlier in this presentation, as for 2024 contracts, that's far too early to talk about today. That we will have to revert to after the 3rd quarter release in, in November. For the remainder of the year, which is the 2nd half of the year, we have already given the guidance here. That's our contracts. In volume terms, it's quite stable. Of course, if you measure it in in percentage points, it's below the 1st half of the year because of the harvest volume composition. That's, If you look back, you will see the same pattern for earlier years. There's nothing new under the sun, with regard to, to that, I, I would say.
Okay, we have a question, or some questions from the web. The first one from Alexander Jones, Bank of America. He's got a question about Scotland. One of our peers has talked about more challenging environmental conditions and jellyfish-driven mortality into Q3. Can you comment on whether you are seeing similar trends at all in your Scottish operation?
In general, we have seen increased biological challenges in Scotland due to an increase in seawater temperatures, which we have talked a lot about previously. For this year, knock on wood, the first half year was good with respect to biology. For the third quarter, which is really the tough quarter in this part of the world, it's still early days. July was okay, and we haven't run into any major incidents so far in August. But having said that, still early days, knock on woods, knock on woods, and this is a very challenging area to farm Atlantic salmon. There is no doubt about that. We are extremely humble, but so far, I, I would say we are okay, and I guess done better off than our peers. Unfortunately, I would like to add to that. We always want the industry to prosper, yeah, all of us.
Next question from Alexander Sloane, Barclays. H e's got a question about the working capital. Can you give a bit more color on the moving parts within work, the change in working capital guidance, for 2023? How much of the increase is related to the ingredients parts, fish meal, fish oil, and what's the outlook on prices for those raw materials?
Yeah. With regards to the working capital, we, of course, see now that the, the, the non-marine materials, they, they have a positive price development. Also, of, of course, also as, as expected. But what's not as expected and, you know, compared with the estimates we have applied earlier, is that, we have much more pressure on, on the marine ingredients, and on first and foremost, fish oil. As we see it now, it looks like all, all in all, it's a stable development when it comes to the, the, the whole mix.
That also means that we don't have this reduction effect that we earlier estimated, and that explains mainly the development with regards to the change in the working capital estimate. Of course, we are growing volumes. We see that we have a good growth in sea. We grow in all business areas, so that also ties up working capital. So that's also an effect. It's a little bit, I don't think we go into any further monetary details on the split there, but the main effect is the first one.
A question from Nils Thommesen Fearnleys on volumes. Harvest volumes in Norway are relatively low in Q4 2023. Is this intentional to build biomass into 2024, or are you being conservative?
Well, let me put it like that, like this. We are comfortable with the harvest volume guidance for 2023. Next question, please.
Christian Nordby Kepler, he's asking about El Niño, and if you can comment on the outlook for the Chilean farming season. Whether increased sea water temperatures has had an impact on our Chilean operations to date.
It's a good question. Bear, bear in mind that it's still wintertime in Chile now, so, and that's the best part of the year. We had a very good biology in the first half of the year, and it has been good so far in the third quarter for us as well. I'm talking about Chile. Again, early days, we are humble. We know that things can happen in this industry, so there's no, there's no, no reason to be carried away.
Okay. Thank you. That concludes the Q&A from the webcast.
Good. It only remains for me to thank everyone for the attention. We hope to see you back already in November at our third quarter release. Meanwhile, take care and have a great day ahead. Thank you.