April 18, 2007

Argentina's seafood export value up but volume down

Argentina, following in the footsteps of its neighbours Peru and Chile, are making a strong entry into the world's seafood export market, with exports rapidly climbing.

During the period January-February 2007, the value of Argentina's seafood exports were up 10.4 percent on-year, amounting to US$164 million (EUR 121.18 million) even as tonnage was down 19.2 percent on-year, according to Argentine consultancy IES.

Main markets for Argentine fish are Spain, Brazil, China, Italy and Japan.

The value of Argentina's fish and seafood exports jumped 49 percent on-year to US$1.19 billion (EUR 880 million) in 2006, according to the Latin America News Digest. Meanwhile, tonnage increased 30 percent to 579,094 tonnes.