Norway’s Atlantic salmon producers will look back fondly on 2014 as it was their best year to date in terms of export value, an achievement that was largely thanks to increased output and sustained high prices.
Last year, the Scandinavian country exported 999,000 metric tons (MT) of salmon, a gain of 4 percent on its export total for 2013. At the same time, the average export price of whole fresh salmon increased 3.4 percent to NOK 41.06 (EUR4.53; USD 5.33) per kilogram (kg).
In terms of value, Norway’s salmon exports totaled NOK 43.9 billion (EUR 4.8 billion; USD 5.7 billion) last year, 11 percent higher than in 2013 and the previous record export value of NOK 39.8 billion (EUR 4.4 billion; USD 5.2 billion), which was in turn 35 percent higher than the total achieved in 2012.
The EU was the most important market for Norwegian whole fresh salmon in 2014 with imports totaling 720,000 MT, an increase of 11 percent. According to the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC), the EU’s share of Norway’s salmon exports soared as a direct result of the year-long Russian trade ban imposed by President Vladimir Putin in August.
Within the EU, the No. 1 export market for Norwegian salmon is Poland, the world’s biggest producer of cold smoked salmon. In value terms, NSC said this trade increased by 10 percent to a total of NOK 5.5 billion (EUR 607.2 million; USD 713.7 million) last year. However, the bloc’s biggest growth market in 2014 was the United Kingdom, which increased its Norwegian salmon imports by 12,300 MT, to reach a volume total of 60,000 MT.
As well as increasing their shipments to Europe, Norway’s salmon exporters were also successful in ramping up their trade with the U.S. and Asian markets last year.
The United States imported Norwegian salmon worth NOK 1.9 billion (EUR 209.8 million; USD 246.6 million), an increase of 64 percent on the total value achieved in 2013. Included in this total was 8,000 MT of fresh whole salmon — a product that until 2012 was subject to anti-dumping and countervailing duty tariffs.
Asia, meanwhile, imported salmon worth NOK 6.6 billion (EUR 728.7 million; USD 856 million), an increase of 16 percent on the previous year. Hong Kong and South Korea were among the Asian markets that showed the most growth in demand for the product last year.
Salmon prices traditionally peak toward the end of the year and this was again the case in 2014 with per-kilogram prices of NOK 48 (EUR 5.30/$6.22) and above widely reported for fresh fish weighing 3-6 kg.
Demand remained high coming into the New Year. As a result, buyers were still being quoted figures of around the NOK 45 (EUR 4.97; USD 5.84) per kg mark in the first weeks of 2015, although that price level was slightly lower than the prices quoted at the start of 2014.
Looking ahead, analysts expect the average price for Norwegian salmon to be NOK 42 (EUR 4.64; USD 5.45) per kg this year and NOK 41 (EUR 4.53; USD5.32) per kg in 2016 in line with tight supplies. Production forecasts anticipate Norway’s output only growing between 4 and 5 percent this year.
