Norway exported seafood products worth NOK 8.1 billion (EUR 870.8 million; USD 938.3 million) last month, an increase of 7 percent or NOK 546 million (EUR 58.7 million; USD 63.2 million) year-on-year. It was the first time the Scandinavian country had exported more than NOK 8 billion (EUR 860 million; USD 926.7 million) in a single month.
Its exports for the first 10 months of this year totaled NOK 60 billion (EUR 6.5 billion; USD 7 billion), an increase of 7 percent or NOK 4.1 billion (EUR 440.8 million; USD 475 billion) year-on-year.
Farmed Atlantic salmon has made a significant contribution to the total, with record export volumes of 103,000 metric tons (MT) combined with good market prices, said Marit Rein, acting director of communications for the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC).
“October was also a very good month for groundfish exports. Exports of salted fish increased by 17 percent and fresh cod, including fillets, has remained at the same level as October 2014. Compared to the historically strong October 2014 for cod, this October now takes second place, even allowing for the slight decline for some groundfish products. We have also seen positive trends in herring exports,” she said.
Salmon exports last month totaled NOK 4.7 billion (EUR 505.3 million; USD 544.4 million), an increase of 18 percent or NOK 720 million (EUR 77.4 million; USD 83.4 million) compared to October 2014. This total was largely due to the higher average market price for fresh whole salmon, which increased from NOK 35.53 (EUR 3.82; USD 4.12) a year ago to NOK 41.96 (EUR 4.51; USD 4.86) per kg last month.
Poland, France and Denmark were the biggest importers of Norwegian salmon in October.
Trout exports fell by 3 percent or NOK 8 million (EUR 860,025; USD 926,726) to NOK 240 million (EUR 25.8 million; USD 27.8 million) last month, with Japan the biggest market for the product.
Exports of fresh cod (including fillets) achieved a total export value of NOK 68 million (EUR 7.3 million; USD 7.9 million), which was the same level reported in October 2014. Frozen cod exports, meanwhile, fell by 14 percent or NOK 42 million (EUR 4.5 million; USD 4.9 million) to NOK 249 million (EUR 26.8 million; USD 28.8 million).
The EU is the biggest importer of fresh and frozen Norwegian cod.
