Norwegian seafood exporters shipped 2 million metric tons (MT) of seafood worth NOK 74.3 billion (USD 9 billion, EUR 8.2 billion) in the first 10 months of this year, representing a 9 percent decrease in volume but an increase in value of 16 percent compared with the corresponding period of 2015, and just slightly short of the total value achieved by the Scandinavian country’s seafood exports for the whole of last year.
According to new figures published by the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC), Norway’s seafood exports last month totaled 274,000 MT with a value of NOK 9.4 billion (USD 1.1 billion, EUR 1 billion), a decrease in volume of 12 percent and an increase in value of 16 percent compared with October 2015. These figures included 90,000 MT of salmon worth NOK 5.7 billion (USD 690.9 million, EUR 625.7 million) – a 12 percent decline in volume but a 23 percent spike in value.
For the year to date, the salmon industry has exported 800,000 MT of fish worth NOK 49.2 billion (USD 6 billion, EUR 5.4 billion), representing a 5.8 percent decrease in volume and a value increase of 29 percent compared with the same period last year.
The average price achieved for whole fresh salmon last month was NOK 60.20 (USD 7.30, EUR 6.61) per kg compared with NOK 41.89 (USD 5.08, EUR 4.60) per kg in October 2015.
While Poland and France continued to be the biggest importers of Norwegian salmon, the NSC said the high salmon export prices are seeing less volumes go to traditional European markets.
“In Spain, we [saw] a volume decline of 28 percent in October compared with October last year. In France, we [saw] a reduction of 12 percent. However, we are seeing a shift in exports to high-end segments in Asia, America and Africa. The markets that pay the most for the Norwegian salmon are North America and Asia. Here the average prices in October were NOK 73.50 (USD 8.91, EUR 8.07) and NOK 70.80 (USD 8.58, EUR 7.77) per kg respectively for fresh whole salmon,” said Geir Havard Hanssen, communications director at NSC.
In the same 10-month period, Norway’s trout exports amounted to 60,000 MT worth NOK 3.3 billion (USD 400 million, EUR 362.4 million), an increase of 50 percent in volume and 88 percent in value year-on-year.
"For the first time since April 2015, Norwegian exports of fresh whole trout in October were at price levels which were higher than those for fresh whole salmon. In October, the average export price for fresh whole trout was NOK 61.22 (USD 7.42, EUR 6.72) per kg, compared to NOK 60.20 per kg for fresh whole salmon. Trout exports in October exceeded the total value of 2015 exports, at NOK 991 million (USD 120.1 million, EUR 108.8 million),” said Paul Aandahl, NSC’s salmon analyst.
Belarus and Japan were the largest buyers of Norwegian trout last month.
