Norwegian Seafood Council introduces new Nordic team for local trade push
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Hoping to get more people in Norway and Sweden to eat Norwegian seafood, the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) has put together a new Nordic team led by the public company’s former Italian envoy, Trym Eidem Gundersen.
Gundersen will replace Sigmund Bjørgo, who has been NSC’s envoy in Sweden since 2018, and before that, the council’s envoy to China (2011 to 2018).
“I am proud, humble and feel privileged to have this opportunity to promote delicious Norwegian seafood in the Nordics. In close collaboration with the seafood industry and good colleagues in the seafood council, I promise to give everything for sustainable fish and shellfish from Norway to come to the dinner table more often,” Gundersen said.
Norway exported seafood worth NOK 8.7 billion in February. This figure represents a decrease of NOK 482 million, or 5 per cent, compared with February last year, and continues the downward trend that started in January. Although seafood markets are still strongly affected by the corona pandemic, the value of seafood exports in February is the second-highest February on record. This is partly because record-high volumes of individual species like salmon and herring have been exported , says Renate Larsen, CEO of the Norwegian Seafood Council.
A nuanced picture
In February, most species export value fell, except for king crab and herring, compared to the record-strong February of 2020.
Norwegian seafood export earnings continue to slide amid market disruptions seafoodsource.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from seafoodsource.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Norwegian salmon exports grew strongly last month, but low prices meant the country’s fish farmers were receiving less revenue than normal, the latest figures show.
They totalled 95,600 tonnes during February, a volume rise of 20%, but the value fell by 5% to NOK 5.4bn (£456m) compared to a year ago.
Poland, France and the United States were the main markets for export, but there was big growth in sales to China and Italy, the two countries hardest hit and among the first to shut down during the early days of the pandemic.
Norwegian Seafood Council analyst Paul T. Aandahl said: “Here, the fear of infection led to a fall in the demand for salmon even before the coronavirus was detected in the country.
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Despite the ongoing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Norwegian seafood exporters managed to have a near-record year of sales.
Norway exported 2.7 million metric tons (MT) of seafood products worth NOK 105.7 billion (USD 12.6 billion, EUR 10.2 billion) last year, the second-highest trade value ever achieved by the Scandinavian country, falling just 1 percent short of 2019’s record.
Norwegian aquaculture supplied 1.2 million MT of exports worth NOK 74.2 billion (USD 8.8 billion, EUR 7.2 billion), with the volume increasing by 3 percent and the value falling by the same margin. The fisheries sector provided a further 1.5 million MT worth NOK 31.5 billion (USD 3.7 billion, EUR 3 billion), representing a 1 percent rise in volume and a 2 percent increase in value. As such, aquaculture accounted for 70 percent of the total export value and 44.9 percent of the volume, while fisheries provided 30 percent of the value and 55.1 percent of the volume.