2016 was a record year for Norwegian export, and 2017 is likely going to be even better. Norwegian seafood exporters shipped fisheries and aquaculture products with a total value of NOK 91.6 billion (USD 10.8 billion, EUR 10.2 billion) last year.
Norway has also come up with an ambitious plan to dramatically increase its seafood exports to China, and expects the trade to be worth 10 billion yuan ($1.45 billion) by 2025. Poland, France and Denmark remain the largest buyers of Norwegian salmon, while Japan, the United States and Thailand are Norway’s main markets for trout.
A growing global middle class will probably request more fish, and the EU was last year again the biggest market for Norwegian seafood with export to the bloc totaling NOK 61.3 billion (USD 7.2 billion), up 23 percent from 2015.
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“2016 was a fantastic year for Norwegian seafood exports. Exports increased by 23 percent and passed NOK 90 billion for the first time. Sixty-seven percent of exports, measured by value, went to Europe. Norway is highly dependent on the European market,” said Renate Larsen CEO of the Norwegian Seafood Council.
According to NSC’s director for the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, Sigmund Bjørgo, the plan for increased export to China is based on the consumers’ preference for Norwegian seafood.
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The council, which comes under the country’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, said it aims to see Norwegian salmon consumption reach 156,000 metric tons in China and Norwegian arctic cod consumption to reach 40,000 tons by 2025, along with increased consumption of other species including halibut, mackerel, lumpfish, snow crab and king crab.
By 2050, revenues from seafood exports could have passed today’s oil and gas revenues at a good margin, according to forecasts from Sintef.
In total, Norway exported seafood to 146 countries last year.
More Seafood from Norway, written by Tor Kjolberg