August 7, 2008

Norway's seafood exports increased 7 percent on-year to a record high of NOK 2.5 billion (US$480.5 million) in July, according to new figures released by the Norwegian Seafood Export Council (NSEC) and Statistics Norway.

Increased volume and prices of salmon and trout contributed greatly to the growth, although salmon prices declined 2.8 percent during the last week of July relative to the previous week.

Continued growth of demand in newer markets such as Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Nigeria also contributed to the result, Jan Trollvik at NSEC said.

Salmon exports rose 14 percent on-year to NOK 1.44 billion (US$277 million) in July, with shipments to Russia, France and Poland increasing the most.

Trout exports jumped 97 percent to NOK 149 million (US$28.7 million), with Russia, Ukraine and Denmark as the largest importers.

France was the largest consumer of Norwegian seafood in July with exports reaching a value NOK 311 million (US$60 million), followed by Russia with NOK 240 million (US$46.2 million). Exports to the EU grew slightly to NOK 1.6 billion (US$308 million).

In addition, Norwegian seafood exports from January to July increased by NOK 176 million (US$34 million) to a record high of NOK 20.3 billion (US$3.9 billion).