Norway’s seafood exports once again increased year over year in Q3 2023, but a significant portion of that increase was related to a weaker krone.
According to statistics collected by the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC), the country exported seafood worth NOK 42.1 billion (USD 3.8 billion, EUR 3.6 billion) in Q3 2023, an increase of NOK 3.7 billion (USD 336 million, EUR 320 million), or 10 percent, compared to the same period of 2022. Measured in krone, that is the best Q3 ever for Norwegian food exports, but measured in euros, the value represents a decrease of EUR 100 million (USD 105 million) compared to 2022.
”In terms of value, Norwegian seafood exports are still doing well. Salmon, trout, cod and pollock have had a historically strong third quarter behind them,” NSC CEO Christian Chramer said. “However, it is still the weak Norwegian krone that is the most important driver of value growth.”
Norwegian expoerts were buoyed by an extremely strong month of exports in September, with the country shipping out NOK 15.9 billion (USD 1.4 billion, EUR 1.3 billion) worth of seafood in the month – an increase of 9 percent, or NOK 1.3 billion (USD 118 million, EUR 112 million), over the same month in 2022. That total, the NSC said, is a record-high value for Norwegian seafood in single month when measured in kroner.
For the first nine months of 2023, the country exported NOK 124.1 billion (USD 11.3 billion, EUR 10.7 billion) worth of seafood. That total is higher than the export total for the entirety of 2021, a record-breaking year when the country’s seafood exports earned NOK 120.8 billion (USD 11 billion, EUR 10.4 billion).
However, when the weaker currency is taken into account, the value of exports so far in 2023 is lower than that full-year total. In 2021, the full year of exports reached a value of USD 13.7 billion (then EUR 12.1 billion).
“Although most of the growth in value in the third quarter can be explained by the weak Norwegian krone, seafood from Norway is still a highly sought-after global commodity with a very strong position in many markets,” Norway Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bjørnar Skjæran said.
The weak krone is affecting seafood pricing for Norway's exports. When measured in Norwegian krone, 15 of the 20 top seafood exports saw price increases, but when measured in euros, that total dropped to eight out of 20 products.
“It tells of an underlying picture that is more muted than if we only look at the value development in the Norwegian krone,” Chramer said.
By market, Poland, Denmark, and the U.S. were the top three export destinations by value, and each country increased their imports by value by more than 10 percent, with Poland at NOK 5.4 billion (USD 491 million, EUR 467 million), an increase of 23 percent; Denmark at NOK 3.6 billion (USD 327 million, EUR 311 million), up 14 percent; and the U.S. at NOK 3.3 billion (USD 300 million, EUR 285 million), up 16 percent.
Rounding out the top five, the Netherlands spent NOK 2.8 billion (USD 254 million, EUR 242 million) on Norwegian seafood, an increase of 18 percent; and France spent NOK 2.7 billion (USD 245 million, EUR 233 million), an increase of 8 percent. The only country in the top 10 destinations by value to see a decrease in value was the United Kingdom, which imported NOK 2 billion (USD 182 million, EUR 173 million) worth of Norwegian seafood, down 2 percent by value.
The Norwegian Seafood Council is hoping for a pick-up in sales to Asia. On 28 September, Norwegian Ambassador to Thailand Astrid Emilie Helle and NSC Southeast Asia Director Asbjorn Warvik Rørtveit joined Aswin Techajareonvikul, the CEO of Thailand-based retailer Big C, to launch a promotional campaign for Norwegian salmon. that will see all Big C Supercenters discount fresh salmon from Norway by 25 percent.
The campaign is key strategy for NSC, as the lion’s share of Norway’s seafood export value continued to be salmon in Q3 2023. The country exported NOK 31 billion (USD 2.8 billion, EUR 2.6 billion) worth of Atlantic salmon in Q3 2023, an increase of NOK 3.7 billion (USD 336 million, EUR 320 million) compared to the same period last year, though volumes sold were down 1 percent to 347,700 metric tons (MT), compared to the 355,000 MT exported in Q3 2022.
The higher value was once again largely related to the weaker krone.
“The value development follows a pattern of growth over a long period of time, and September was the 31st month in a row with an increase in value. Unfortunately, it is not the growth in demand that is the most important contribution to this, but the weak Norwegian krone,” NSC Analyst Paul Aandahl said.
Prices for salmon from Norway rose 5.5 percent in the past week, according to the Nasdaq Salmon Index.
The average per-kilo price hit NOK 78.01 (USD 7.09, EUR 6.74) up from NOK 73.97 (USD 6.86, EUR 6.52) a week ago. The new price is up 10.8 percent from four weeks ago, but down 14.5 percent from 12 weeks ago.
Average prices for most weight classes rose, with the exception of very small and very large salmon, which dropped slightly.
Volumes remained steady, with 24,952 metric tons of Norwegian salmon exported in the week, up from 24,851 MT a week prior, though the total was down year over year from 26,236 MT.
The export value of trout from Norway also increased in Q3 2022, reaching NOK 1.6 billion (USD EUR), an increase of NOK 145 million (USD 13.2 million, EUR 12.5 million). The value was earned via an export volume of 18,900 MT, an increase of 15 percent.
A key source of the growth in trout sales was exports to Ukraine. The war-torn country imported a total of NOK 115 million (USD 10.4 million, EUR 9.9 million) worth of trout from Norway, an increase of 136 percent compared to the same quarter last year.
Strong growth was also recorded in both value and volume terms in sales of fresh cod. The country exported NOK 377 million (USD 34 million, EUR 32 million) worth of fresh cod, an increase of NOK 97 million (USD 8.8 million, EUR 8.3 million), or 35 percent. By volume, it shipped 6,900 MT of fresh cod, an increase of 34 percent. The country also exported more farmed fresh cod than it has since 2012, NSC Seafood Analyst Eivind Hestvik Brækkan said.
“In the third quarter, farmed cod accounted for as much as 19 per cent of the export of fresh cod measured in value. This is the highest proportion since the third quarter of 2012. The export price for farmed cod was also significantly higher than wild cod's,” Brækkan said. “While the average price of wild-caught fresh whole cod was NOK 47 [USD 4.27, EUR 4.06] per kilogram in the third quarter, the average price of fresh whole farmed cod was NOK 63.00 [USD 5.72, EUR 5.44] per kilogram.”
Norway exported frozen cod worth NOK 600 million (USD 54.5 million EUR 51.8 million) in Q3 2023, a decrease of NOK 208 million (USD 18.9 million, EUR 18 million), or 26 percent, compared to Q3 2022. By volume, exports dropped 31 percent to 10,100 MT.
“Our export data back to 1988 shows that this is the first time China is not among the two largest destination countries for frozen cod in a quarter,” Brækkan said.
Photo courtesy of Big C
