Norway exported farmed salmon worth NOK 64.7 billion (USD 8 billion, EUR 6.7 billion) last year, an increase of five percent, or NOK 3.4 billion (USD 421.6 million, EUR 351.4 million) compared with 2016. In volume terms, the trade amounted to one million metric tons (MT), which was 2.8 percent, or 27,000 MT, more than the previous year.
Despite its record value and increased volume, the salmon sector’s export growth flattened out in 2017, said Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) analyst Paul Aandahl.
In terms of its main market, Norway exported 736,000 MT of salmon worth NOK 45.7 billion (USD 5.7 billion, EUR 4.7 billion) to the European Union in 2017, which represented a decrease in volume of two percent, or 12,000 MT, and an increase of one percent in value compared with 2016.
Approximately 73 percent of all Norwegian salmon exports, measured in product weight, went to the EU in 2017, which was a decrease of three percentage points from 2016.
Increased consumer prices led to reduced purchases of salmon in several of the EU’s main consumer markets, said Aandahl.
The largest markets for Norwegian salmon were Poland and France, with the export volume to Poland falling by six percent to 132,000 MT and exports to France down by 10 percent to 103,000 MT. The largest growth markets in the EU were Denmark (up 15 percent to 86,000 MT) and Spain (up 8 percent to 63,000 MT).
But while export volumes to the EU declined last year, increased volumes of Norwegian salmon went to the United States and Asia.
Norway exported 49,000 MT of salmon worth NOK 4.4 billion (USD 545.5 million, EUR 454.7 million) to the U.S. market, representing annual increases of 25 percent and 31 percent respectively.
Its exports to Asia totaled 169,000 MT worth NOK 11.6 billion (USD 1.4 billion, EUR 1.2 billion), up 11 percent and 13 percent respectively. In volume terms, Asia’s largest buyers of Norwegian salmon were Japan, Vietnam, and South Korea.
Though export prices trended downwards over the course of last year, they still averaged a record NOK 60.34 (USD 7.48, EUR 6.24) per kg for 2017 as a whole, which was NOK 0.26 (USD 0.03, EUR 0.02) per kg above 2016’s average and NOK 17.52 (USD 2.17, EUR 1.81) more than in 2015.
At NOK 72.07 (USD 8.93, EUR 7.45) per kg, January 2017’s average price was the highest average price ever recorded for a single month.
