Decline In Norwegian Exports

Senior analyst Kristin Lien of the Norwegian Seafood Export Council says that despite higher export volumes of both herring and mackerel in the first quarter of 2010, low prices have decreased the value of exports.

Exports of herring totaled NOK 1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2010, representing a fall of 10 per cent compared to the same period in 2009.

For mackerel, a decline of 12 per cent in export value was seen in the first quarter from NOK 457 million in 2009 to NOK 400 million in 2010.

203,000 tonnes of frozen whole herring was exported in the first quarter of this year - an increase of 10,000 tonnes of last year.

In March, 34,000 tonnes of frozen of whole herring were exported - a decrease of 23 per cent from March 2009.

Russia has been the largest market in the first quarter with 61 000 tonnes, an increase of 4 000 tonnes from the same period in 2009. Followed by Nigeria with 45 000 tons, Ukraine with 36 000 tons, Egypt with 17 000 tonnes and Lithuania with 12 000 tonnes.

Herring

69 000 tonnes of frozen herring fillet products were exported in the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 8 000 tonnes. In March this year 19 000 tonnes of herring fillet products were exported, which is an increase of 5 000 tonnes from March 2009. Herring fillets in the first quarter were exported to the main markets of Germany (24 000 tons), Russia (19 000 tons), Poland (9 000 tonnes) and Ukraine (5 000 tonnes). All increased imports, except for Ukraine.

Mackerel

38,000 tonnes of frozen mackerel was exported in the first quarter, an increase of 2,000 tonnes. The mackerel is distributed in many markets including Russia, Turket, China, Poland, South Korea and Ukraine.