According to the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC), the value of salmon exports in May totaled NOK 3.4 billion (USD 587 million, EUR 442 million), up NOK 896 million (USD 155 million, EUR 116.5 million) compared to the same month in 2012 — and the highest export value ever achieved for May.
Export volume for the month however, was done 1 percent compared to May of 2012.
For the year, salmon export value is at NOK 14.5 billion (USD 2.5 billion, EUR 1.9 billion), NOK 3.1 billion (USD 535 million, EUR 403 million) more than last year. Volume has fallen by 3 percent to 363,000 metric tons (MT).
“Stagnation in salmon production in Norway combined with a growth in demand in the markets has resulted in record high salmon prices,” said Paul Aandahl, NSC senior analyst.
After relatively low salmon prices last year, the price of salmon has increased dramatically in 2013. The average export price in May was NOK 41.91 (USD 7.24, EUR 5.45). This was NOK 0.08 (USD 0.01, EUR 0.01) lower than for the previous month and NOK 12.32 (USD 2.13, EUR 1.6) higher than in May last year.
In May, more than 71 percent of Norwegian salmon was exported to countries in the EU. Despite a decrease in volume of 1 percent in May, volumes to the EU increased by 4 percent. A total of 56,000 MT of salmon products were exported to the EU in May. Poland was the market with the strongest growth, ahead of the U.K. and Germany with 691 MT.
In May, exports of Norwegian salmon to Asia and Eastern Europe fell, in terms of volume, by 15 and 9 percent respectively. The largest drop in sales to Asia was in Japan and Taiwan, while in Eastern Europe Russia and Ukraine are the countries that reduced imports from Norway by the largest volume.
