Norway exported 178,000 metric tons (MT) of fisheries and aquaculture products worth NOK 8 billion (USD 954.2 million, EUR 824.2 million) last month. While the volume was on par with August 2017, the value was 6 percent or NOK 463 million (USD 55.2 million, EUR 47.7 million) higher.
For the first eight months of the year, total exports (all sectors and species) amounted to 1.8 million MT worth NOK 63 billion (USD 7.5 billion, EUR 6.5 billion), representing year-on-year increases of 11 percent and 4.5 percent respectively.
The country’s Fisheries Minister, Harald Tom Nesvik, said that he is pleased with the development.
"It is gratifying that the export value of Norwegian seafood continues to increase. Norwegian seafood is sought after all over the world, and the government's ambition is that the seafood industry will continue to grow,” he said.
The Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) attributed most of August’s growth to record exports of salmon – 100,000 MT earned NOK 6 billion (USD 715.7 million, EUR 618.1 million).
At the same time, the Scandinavian country exported 2,400 MT of fresh cod worth NOK 86 million (USD 10.3 million, EUR 8.9 million) and 4,900 MT of frozen cod valued at NOK 183 million (USD 21.8 million, EUR 18.8 million). So far in 2018, 56,000 MT of fresh cod and 48,000 MT of frozen cod have been exported valued at NOK 2 billion (USD 238.6 million, EUR 206 million) and NOK 1.8 billion (USD 214.7 million, EUR 185.4 million) respectively.
Additionally in the January through August period, Norway exported 55,000 MT of whole clipfish and 23,500 MT of salted fish, worth NOK 2.5 billion (USD 298.2 million, EUR 257.5 million) and NOK 1.2 billion (USD 143.1 million, EUR 123.6 million) respectively.
In the pelagic trade, it shipped 180,000 MT of herring valued at NOK 1.6 billion (USD 190.9 million, EUR 164.8 million) and 86,000 MT of mackerel worth NOK 1.1 billion (USD 131.2 million, EUR 113.3 million), while in the shellfish sector, 1,400 MT of king crab has achieved overseas sales of NOK 400 million (USD 47.7 million, EUR 41.2 million) and 6,100 MT of Norwegian shrimp has earned NOK 500 million (USD 59.7 million, EUR 51.5 million).
In 2017, Norway exported a record 2.6 million MT of seafood worth NOK 94.5 billion (USD 11.3 billion, EUR 9.7 billion).
