November 18, 2010

 

Chile's exports of fishmeal and frozen fish decrease significantly

 

 

Chile's exports of fishery and aquaculture products attained a total value of US$2.3 billion during the first eight months of 2010, showing a significant decrease of 13.3% as compared with the same period in 2009 when US$2.7 billion worth of products was being exported.

 

The quantity of exports also decreased by 35.8% from 1.08 million tonnes in 2009, to 696,000 tonnes in 2010, according to the Subsecretariat of Fisheries (Subpesca).

 

The decrease took place because there were lower shipments of fishmeal and frozen products, which declined by 48.2% and 29.3% respectively, according to the latest Report on the Fishing and Aquaculture Sector by Subpesca.

 

Sales of fish meal and frozen products were the highest as they represented a combined 37% of the total, followed by chilled products, dried seaweed, fishoil, and canned seafood.

 

The average price of fishery products exported between the first eight months increased by 35% over the same period in 2009 and cost US$3.30 per kilogramme.

 

Statistics from Subpesca showed that the main export was rainbow trout as it accounted for 23.5% of total sales abroad. Then came Atlantic salmon and the pelagic fish group excluding thorns.

 

Chilean products were meant for 110 countries and the nine major ones accounted for 79.1% of total exports. Some of the countries are Japan, US, and China.

 

As for the fishing sector, the total value of fish landings intended for exports (432, 000 tonnes) between January and August 2010 was US$889.5 million, showing a negative variation of 15.2% in contrast to the same period in the previous year.

 

During the initial eight months of the year, a total of 257,400 tonnes of fishmeal was sold to other countries for US$437.2 million. whereas Chile had exported 496,600 tonnes worth US$475.5 million in the previous year. The major destinations of fishmeal were China, Japan, Spain, South Korea, and Canada.

 

Foreign sales of frozen seafood products totalled US$247.8 million, which declined by 31.1% over the same period last year. These products were mainly targeted at the US, Spain, and Japan, with shares in values of 22.6%, 16.9% and 12.5% respectively.

 

Sales in the first eight months of 2010 for canned products totalled US$75.9 million, which declined by 15.2% as compared with last year. The major markets were Sri Lanka, Spain, and Singapore, with shares of 23.4%, 20.1% and 7.4% respectively.

 

The aquaculture sector exports represented 61.4% of the total amount of foreign sales and 37.9% of the total quantity of exports between the first eight months of this year, with US$1.4 billion and approximately 264,000 tonnes. These figures show a decline of 12.1% in value and 27.9% in volume in contrast to the same period in 2009.