Norwegian seafood companies exported 203,000 metric tons (MT) of fisheries and aquaculture products worth NOK 8.7 billion (USD 952.7 million, EUR 866.6 million) last month, with the volume and value increasing by 18 percent and 14 percent, respectively, compared with September 2018.
In the first nine months of 2019, Norway exported 1.8 million MT of seafood worth NOK 76.2 billion (USD 8.3 billion, EUR 7.6 billion), with the volume down 7 percent but the value rising by 8 percent, or NOK 5.5 billion (USD 602.3 million, EUR 547.9 million), year-on-year.
The Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) said that the weak Norwegian krone continues to be “an important contributor” to the export growth across all of the country’s key seafood species.
Tom-Jørgen Gangsø, director of market insight and market access with the NSC, said that there continues to be strong growth in the global demand for Norwegian salmon, which has increased in both volume and value by 6 percent to 806,000 MT and NOK 52.3 billion (USD 5.7 billion, EUR 5.2 billion) over the past three financial quarters. He highlighted that after salmon, mackerel had shown the most growth this year, with a value increase of 49 percent, or an increase from NOK 604 million to NOK 1.8 billion (USD 66.1 million to USD 197.1 million, EUR 60.2 million to EUR 179.3 million).
The mackerel volume for this period totaled 107,000 MT, which represented an increase of 14 percent. The NSC said that higher prices along with an increased export volume (underpinned by larger catches) has boosted the country’s mackerel trade.
Norway’s salmon exporters sold 109,000 MT of products valued at NOK 6.1 billion (USD 668 million, EUR 607.6 million) in September, up 24 percent in volume and 7 percent in value compared to the corresponding month last year.
With volumes increasing, the average price for whole fresh salmon last month was down to NOK 50.08 (USD 5.48, EUR 4.99) per kilogram, compared with NOK 60.96 (USD 6.68, EUR 6.07) in September 2018. Poland, France, and Denmark continued to provide the largest markets for these products, while China’s fresh salmon purchasing is currently growing at a rate of 92 percent.
Also in the salmonid sector, Norway’s trout trade for the year to date has increased by 30 percent in volume to 40,800 MT worth NOK 2.6 billion (USD 284.7 million, EUR 259 million), which is up 25 percent year-on-year.
In the pelagic category, in addition to the soaring mackerel trade, Norway has exported 200,000 MT of herring worth NOK 1.9 billion (USD 208.1 million, EUR 189.2 million) and 86,000 MT of mackerel worth NOK 1.1 billion (USD 120.5 million, EUR 109.6 million).
Lithuania, Poland, and the Netherlands have been the biggest export markets for herring so far this year, while China, South Korea, and Japan have imported the most mackerel.
NSC’s data also found that Norway’s king crab export volume and value for the January through September period increased by 6 percent and 16 percent, respectively, to 1,600 MT and NOK 510 million (USD 55.9 million, EUR 50.8 million). South Korea, the U.S., and Japan have been the main export markets for king crab so far this year.
Furthermore, some 12,300 MT of shrimp worth NOK 821 million (USD 89.9 million, EUR 81.8 million) has been sold to overseas markets. This is a 79 percent increase in volume and a 45 percent rise in value. Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Iceland have provided the main markets for Norwegian shrimp this year.
The growth in value for shrimp and shellfish is largely due to increased volumes for the largest species, said the NSC.
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