Seafood exports rose by 6 per cent to 13 billion in July – pointing to a weakened krone

Norway exported NOK 13 billion worth of seafood in July, NOK 727 million more compared to last year.

It was in Great Britain that the increase in value for Norwegian exports was greatest, and the British were delivered over 19,000 tonnes of Norwegian seafood in July. This was an increase of 117 compared to July last year.

– Beyond a positive development for salmon and trout, the other growth is mainly due to the export of fishmeal and oil, explains the Seafood Council’s envoy to Great Britain, Victoria Braathen, in a press release.

Weak currency and greater volume

The krona is weak both in relation to the euro and the dollar, says managing director of the Norwegian Seafood Council Christian Chramer.

– We see that a rather sharp price drop for salmon was compensated by volume growth, and in the end it is the currency that gives value increase, he says.

– Measured in euros, the export value was unchanged from July last year, while measured in US dollars, the export value fell by 2 per cent, the Seafood Council states in the press release.

Although the price of salmon decreased, the amount of salmon exported increased by 13 percent in July.

Happy mackerel and prawn July

The value of mackerel exports increased by 50 per cent in July compared to July 2023. July and June are the months with the least exports of mackerel, and the fish mainly comes from fishing in Northern Norway. This year the fish from there have been bigger than usual.

Jan Eirik Johnsen of the Seafood Council says that the increased demand for summer mackerel comes from important competitors lagging behind.

– Iceland and the Faroe Islands have started their mackerel fishing later than usual, and the Icelandic fishery is well behind last year, he says.

It has also been a very good month for shrimp exports. Prawn fishing has gone well in the Barents Sea, says Marte Sofie Danielsen, shellfish manager at the Seafood Council.

– This has led to increased exports of frozen raw industrial prawns and frozen cooked shell prawns. We thus record the strongest month of July measured in terms of value for prawns ever, says Danielsen.

Much of the increase is due to increased volumes. In July, Norway exported 3,971 tonnes of shrimp, and such high figures have not been recorded in a July month since 1999.