Continuing on from a record-breaking 2018, Norwegian seafood exporters achieved their highest ever January sales value last month with NOK 8.6 billion (USD 1 billion, EUR 889.6 million). This total was 13 percent or NOK 992 million (USD 117.1 million, EUR 102.6 million) more than in January 2018, with the growth coming despite a 4 percent reduction in the volume at 200,600 metric tons (MT).
Asbjørn Warvik Rørtveit, director for market insight and access at the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) said increased demand led to price increases for salmon and a growth in export value of NOK 695 million (USD 82.1 million, EUR 71.9 million) to reach a January record NOK 5.7 billion (USD 673.2 million, EUR 589.7 million).
In volume terms, last month’s salmon exports amounted to 86,000 MT, which was two percent more than in January 2018. The average price for fresh whole salmon was NOK 62.93 (USD 7.43, EUR 6.51) per kg, up from NOK 56.99 (USD 6.73, EUR 5.90) from a year previously.
Whitefish exports also had an impressive month, posting the highest totals in a January ever.
“The skrei season is now underway, which, combined with strong growth for frozen cod, has also helped to make this January the strongest January ever recorded for whitefish exports,” Rørtveit said.
Some 4,700 MT of fresh cod products were exported last month, including 900 MT of the seasonal skrei product, with a total export value of NOK 227 million (USD 26.8 million, EUR 23.5 million). While this value was on par with January 2018, the volume was down by 16 percent or 900 MT. However, the skrei volume was up 53 percent or 312 MT, and its value was 67 percent higher at NOK 49 million (USD 5.8 million, EUR 5.1 million).
The average price for skrei was NOK 54.53 (USD 6.44, EUR 5.64) per kilogram in January, an increase of nine percent. This rise was partly due to a smaller cod catch this year compared to January 2018, said NSC seafood analyst Ingrid Pettersen.
Also last month, 9,900 MT of frozen cod with a value of NOK 401 million (USD 47.4 million, EUR 41.5 million) was sold by Norway to overseas markets. This represented an increase in volume of 25 percent, or 2,000 MT, while the export value was up 48 percent.
“The 25 percent increase in volume is due to the fact that cod catches were larger this year. The increase in value is due to both a growth in demand in the market that is higher than the growth in volume, combined also with a weaker Norwegian krone,” Pettersen said.
For the full-year 2018, Norway exported a record 2.7 million MT of fisheries and aquaculture products worth NOK 99 billion (USD 11.7 billion, EUR 10.2 billion). Of this, salmon accounted for 1.1 million MT and NOK 67.8 billion (USD 8 billion, EUR 7 billion), while cod contributed 197,000 MT and NOK 9.4 billion (USD 1.1 billion, EUR 972.4 million).
According to the NSC, over the past 10 years, the value of Norwegian seafood exports has increased by 156 percent.
