January 26, 2021

Chilean salmon dominates nation's food exports in 2020

Chile's salmon exports have reached US$4.4 billion (€3.6 billion) last year, placing the commodity at the top of the country's food exports.

Still, according to the latest report from the Chilean Salmon Council, the amount of salmon exported in dollar terms was 14.6% lower than in 2019.

The lower value came despite a larger export total, which grew to 779,044 tonnes - up 7.5% compared to the previous year. This was largely related to how prices were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as lower sales to the hotel, restaurant, and catering (HORECA) channel suffered due to closures and operational limits imposed by governments.

Salmon exports represented 6.1% of Chile's total exports, 12.4% of exports of non-copper goods and 46% of total food exports.

For the full year, Chile's main destination markets for salmon exports were the United States, Japan, Brazil, Russia and China, which collectively covered 81.4% of total salmon exports.

- SeafoodSource