”A winter fishing season marked by both late skrei cod migration and increased exports of fresh fish to other markets, has meant that our main cod market Portugal, has not purchased as much cod as last year. This has led to higher prices and therefore record exports of salted fish in April”, says Ove Johansen, Market Analyst with the Norwegian Seafood Council.
Exports of salted fish, both whole and in fillets increased by NOK 107 million to total NOK 263 million in April. This represents an increase of 69 per cent year-on-year. By volume, salted fish exports were up by 17 per cent to total 6,675 tonnes in April.
Portugal was our largest market, purchasing 90 per cent of all salted fish in April, for a total value of NOK 227 million. This is an increase of 69 per cent year-on-year. In the Portuguese market, the price achieved in April 2015 was 47 per cent higher than in April last year at NOK 39.60 per kilo.
Clipfish prices rise
Norway exported clipfish worth NOK 196 million in April. This is an increase of 12 per cent or NOK 21 million year-on-year. Export volumes of clipfish totalled 4,373 tonnes in April. This is a decline of 16 per cent or 833 tonnes compared with April 2014. The average price of clipfish increased by 34 per cent year-on-year.
Of this total, Atlantic cod clipfish accounted for NOK 116.4 million. This is an increase of NOK 16.9 million from last April. Average prices rose by 47 per cent in the same period. The value of sei clipfish totalled NOK 69.4 million in April. This is an increase of NOK 3.3 million compared with last April. The average price of saithe in April was also up by 21 per cent compared with April 2014.
Stockfish prices rise significantly
Whole stockfish exports reached NOK 15 million in April. This is a decline of 45 per cent year-on-year. By volume, 159 tonnes of stockfish were exported in April. This is a decline of 55 per cent year-on-year. Norwegian cod stockfish from Lofoten accounted for 67 tonnes and a value of NOK 8.7 million. This is a decline of 60 per cent or NOK 13 million compared with April 2014. The average price achieved was NOK 129.51 per kg, which is 47 per cent higher year-on-year.
Frozen fish prices increase
Total exports of frozen groundfish products increased in April by NOK 39.6 million to total NOK 241 million. Whole round frozen saithe accounted for the strongest growth, from 2,500 tonnes to 3,326 tonnes. Whole frozen saithe also saw a 37 per cent price increase, from NOK 12.60 to NOK 17.27 per kilo. Frozen whole cod prices also rose, by 49 per cent in April. This explains the growth in export value of NOK 10 million, whilst export volumes actually fell by 25 per cent.
The value of exported frozen fillets increased from NOK 61.5 to NOK 94.7 million dollars in April. Volume also increased by 23 percent, while the average price achieved rose by 25 per cent year-on-year.
A strong month for fresh fish
The combined export value of all fresh groundfish products reached NOK 344 million in April. This is a year-on-year increase of 35 per cent or NOK 89.7 million. By volume, exports of fresh cod products increased by 16 per cent. The price of fresh produce has on average increased by 16 per cent during the last 12 months.
New for 2015 reporting is a separate item number for quality marked skrei cod, which in April was NOK 24 million by value, and 902 tonnes by volume. The average price for quality labelled skrei cod was NOK 26.71 per kilo. Fresh cod exports totalled NOK 193.3 million in April. In addition, exports of farmed cod were worth NOK 11.3 million.
Exports of fresh fillets increased by NOK 8.8 million to NOK 53.4 million in April. Most of this growth was from exports of fresh cod fillets. The price averaged NOK 65.52 per kilo. An increase of 10 per cent from April 2014.