The CEO of the Norwegian Seafood Council, Børge Grønbech, has stated that the amount of Norwegian seafood exports in August 2022 is equivalent to the entire export total of 1990. "There is still great global demand for Norwegian seafood. That is good news for Norway, both as a seafood and an export nation. This illustrates how strong the development has been," he confirmed.
In other words, the value of Norwegian seafood exports has never been higher in a single month than in August. Last month, Norway exported NOK 12.5 billion worth of seafood. This is an increase of NOK 2.9 billion, or 30%, compared to August last year. In addition, it has grown by NOK 21.2 billion, or 29%, to a total value of NOK 94 billion, compared to the first eight months of 2021.
Further, Grønbech underlined salmon as the star product: "It is the particularly high volumes and prices for salmon that are driving export records in August. This is the best single month of all time for salmon measured in value. While there is an August record for pollock, trout, haddock, and the entire whitefish category."
Accurately, Poland, Denmark, and the USA have been the biggest markets for Norwegian salmon during the month mentioned. "Demand for Norwegian salmon continues to increase. Although prices have fallen compared to earlier this year, salmon prices are at a record high for the month of August," indicated Paul T. Aandahl, Seafood Analyst with the Council.
On the other hand, seafood consumption at home is falling in Europe. Regarding this, Grønbech noted: "This is to be expected since more people this year are traveling on holiday and eating their meals outside the home. So, more seafood goes to the hotel, restaurant, and canteen segment. These are important and well-paying purchasers of Norwegian seafood."
Moreover, he added: "At the same time, we are in a period of high inflation, lower purchasing power, challenging logistics, and increased production costs. In addition, a strengthening of the krone against the euro, as we have seen in August, is a challenging factor for exporters. This means that we are still in challenging times in which to conduct global trade."
