Norway’s whitefish exporters shipped 129,000 metric tons (MT) of cod, saithe, haddock and other groundfish in the first-quarter of this year, achieving a total export value of NOK 4.2 billion (USD 486.2 million, EUR 459.2 million) in the period. These totals represent year-on-year increases of 5 percent in volume and 6 percent in value.
The biggest increase was in the frozen product segment, particularly frozen whole fish, but there was also a substantial increase in the country’s exports of whole clipfish, confirmed the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC).
Norway exported 48,182 MT of frozen whitefish products with a value of NOK 1.3 billion (USD 150.5 million, EUR 142.1 million) in Q1 2017, representing a volume increase of 8 percent and a value increase of 11 percent or NOK 126 million (USD 14.6 million, EUR 13.8 million) compared with the corresponding period last year.
Within the frozen category, Norway exported 20,753 MT of frozen cod worth NOK 686 million (USD 79.5 million, EUR 75 million), representing year-on-year decreases of 7 percent and 1 percent respectively. However, the country’s whole frozen haddock trade performed a lot better in the last quarter with 15,113 MT of product achieving NOK 346 million (USD 40.1 million, EUR 37.8 million) – up 16 percent and 38 percent respectively.
Almost half of the exports of frozen whole haddock in Q1 2017 went to China.
Norway’s fresh whitefish export trade in the last quarter totaled 45,464 MT with a value of NOK 1.4 billion (USD 162.2 million, EUR 153.1 million), representing a volume decrease of 3 percent and an increase in value of 2 percent. Within this category, Norway exported 31,224 MT of fresh whole cod worth NOK 967 million (USD 112 million, EUR 105.7 million). It also exported 4,153 MT of quality-marked skrei worth NOK 153 million (USD 17.7 million, EUR 16.7 million) – down 6 percent in both value and volume year-on-year.
Ingrid Kristine Pettersen, codfish analyst at NSC, said cod prices had increased across most categories, and that the rise in raw material prices have been higher than the export prices, which was also contributing to margin pressure for the industry.
The Q1 Norwegian clipfish trade totaled 22,370 MT worth NOK 924 million (USD 107 million, EUR 101 million), representing increases of 21 percent and 13 percent respectively, with strong sales to Brazil in the run-up to Easter.
