Seafood worth NOK 13.9 billion was exported by Norway last month, representing an increase of NOK 924 million or 7% compared with April 2023.
“The value of exports has never been higher in April than this year. The growth is largely due to the Norwegian kroner, which has weakened slightly against the euro and the US dollar compared with April last year. In addition, last month saw increased export volumes for several species, such as trout, saithe, haddock, snow crab and mackerel,” Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) CEO Christian Chramer said.
Easter was another factor that affected seafood exports in April. While it fell in March this year, Easter fell in April last year. As a result, there were four more working days in April this year than in the same month last year.
“Since we always compare the development of seafood exports with the same month in the previous year, it can have a major impact when Easter falls in different months, such as this year and last year. In that case, it is more correct to look at seafood exports in March and April together,” Chramer said.
In March and April, Norway exported seafood worth a total of NOK 27.6 billion. This was NOK 1.1 billion less than in the same period last year.
“The quota reduction on a number of wild-caught species and a lower volume of salmon have characterised the start of this export year,” Chramer said.
NSC highlighted that in the whitefish category, the export value for cod had never been higher than in April, and that this was achieved despite the lowest export volume in over a decade.
“Increased prices for salted fish, as well as fresh and frozen cod, have contributed to price growth. This is driven by quota reductions and increased demand abroad because of a number of international sanctions against Russian cod. Meaning that the battle for raw materials is continues to intensify for the Norwegian processing industry,” NSC seafood analyst Eivind Hestvik Brækkan said.
Norway exported 4,972 tonnes (-27%) of fresh cod worth NOK 317 million (-15%) and 7,051 tonnes (+30%) of frozen cod worth NOK 447 million (+39%) in April.
At the same time, Norway exported 80,126 tonnes of salmon worth NOK 9.9 billion last month, with the value increasing by NOK 222 million or 2% and the volume down by 1%.
In April, fresh salmon fillets worth NOK 2.2 billion were exported. This was 42% higher than in April last year. Fresh salmon fillets accounted for 22% of total salmon exports versus 16% a year previously.
Exports of frozen fillets increased by 10% in value to NOK 857 million. The share of frozen fillet of total salmon exports has remained stable over time at between 8 and 9%.
Also in April, Norway exported 9,653 tonnes of herring worth NOK 181 million, representing decreases of 2% and 14%, respectively.
There were upturns in the mackerel trade, however, with 8,227 tonnes (+25%) of product worth NOK 211 million (+9%) sold to overseas markets.
Overall, the largest markets for Norwegian seafood exports in April were Poland, Denmark and the United States. Poland had the highest value growth, with an increase in export value of NOK 216 million or 19% compared with April 2023. However, the export volume to Poland ended at 14,329 tonnes, which was 8% lower than a year previously.
