New Zealand seafood exports set new record

The value of New Zealand’s seafood exports increased by more than 6 percent last year to achieve a record total of NZD 1.6 billion (EUR 948 million; USD 1.1 billion). The growth was most pronounced in the final two months of the year, confirmed Tim Pankhurst, chief executive of Seafood New Zealand.

Up to the end of October, export growth was tracking at about 3 percent but increased demand in November and December pushed the growth to more than 20 percent for those two months and lifted total growth for the year to 6.6 percent.

A significant part of this growth was from Greenshell mussel exports as new season supplies became available, said Pankhurst. For example, 300 metric tons (MT) of mussels were shipped to Korea in December, compared to 97 MT in the corresponding month of 2014. Total exports to Korea grew by 11.6 percent last year.

Despite economic uncertainty in China, exports to China grew by 14.9 percent, while exports to the United States also showed strong growth of 12.2 percent.

“These results are very heartening and are a testament to the work of the many players in our industry – from those who go out every day to fish and farm, to the people employed in processing and preparing our product for export and those who market our products to the world,” said Pankhurst.

“The long-term outlook for New Zealand’s seafood industry is bright as discerning consumers around the world are increasingly looking for high quality, sustainably harvested seafood. New Zealand seafood ticks those boxes.”

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