July 8, 2022

 

Norway earns over US$7 billion from seafood exports thanks to high salmon prices

 

The Norwegian Seafood Council said Norway earned a record NOK 71.1 billion (~US$7.047 billion; NOK 1 = US$0.099) from seafood exports in the first half of 2022, thanks largely to high salmon prices, Fish Information & Services reported.

 

534,500 tonnes of Norwegian salmon were shipped valued at NOK 48.8 billion (~US$4.8 billion) in the first half of this year. Compared to last year, that is a 5% drop in export volume, but the high prices meant that export value jumped NOK 13.2 billion (~US$1.3 billion) or 37% year-on-year.

 

Whole salmon's average price rose to NOK 87.37 (~US$8.66) per kg from NOK 58.29 (~US$5.78) per kg.

 

The three top importers of Norwegian salmon were the US, France, and Poland.

 

Paul T Aandahl, seafood analyst with the Norwegian Seafood Council, said both record price and record value come as a result of a combination of demand growth and reduced production of Atlantic salmon globally.

 

He said they can observe that years with weak volume growth globally result in rapid price growth. The price has increased four times since 2010, and they occasionally notice this pattern.

 

The volume of supply is falling while demand is rising at the same time. Sales to the hotel and restaurant industry have grown, which contributes to this in part.

 

Aandahl also noted exports are declining due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with reduced exports to Ukraine, Belarus, and Asia. The latter was because of closed Russian airspace, affecting exports to Japan and South Korea.

 

He said exports of fresh salmon to Japan dropped 20%, and South Korea 18%, in volume.

 

Exports (in value) to France increased 50%, with export volume 7% up. Meanwhile, exports to Italy were 62% up in value and 3% in volume.

 

Norwegian producers exported 87,800 tonnes of salmon in June for NOK 8.8 billion (~US$872 million), an 11% decrease from June 2021. This represents a value increase of NOK 2.6 billion (~US$257 million), or 41%, when compared to June of the previous year.

 

In the first half of the year, Norway exported 23,800 tonnes of trout for NOK 2.1 billion (~US$208 million). In comparison to the first half of last year, export volume decreased by 5% while export value increased by NOK 562 million (~US$55.7 million), or 35%.

 

Norwegian trout, the third-largest species by export value so far this year, found its biggest markets in the USA, Thailand, and Japan. Only cod and salmon can beat it.

 

-      Fish Information & Services