According to the latest figures from the Norwegian seafood Export Council the exports of groundfish including clipfish, salted fish and stockfish in the first quarter of 2010 was increased by 17 percent in volume or 14,700 tonnes to a total of 102,100 tonnes. Market analyst Ove Johansen from the Norwegian Seafood Export Council, revealed that despite lower prices, exports of Norwegian cod are going well.
He also states that salted fish and block frozen Norwegian Cod, which went through a difficult market situation in the early part of last year, have now regained the level of previous years. At the same time, exports of fresh fillets, whole Norwegian Cod and clipfish are reaching record volumes. All of which has made this the best first quarter for Norwegian Cod exports in terms of volume since the record years of the late 1990s.
Exports of clipfish in the first quarter of 2010 totalled NOK 910 million, an increase of NOK 91 million or 11 percent compared with the same period last year. The volume of clipfish exports in the first quarter totalled 24,600 tonnes, an increase of 9 percent on the first quarter of 2009.
The biggest growth in value came from the exports of Norwegian Cod clipfish, up by NOK 77.3 million or 19 percent to a total of NOK 489 million. The volume of exports of Norwegian Cod clipfish totalled 10,367 tonnes, compared with a total of 7,431 tonnes in the same period last year.
After the challenging start to last year, exports of salted fish have rebounded strongly. In the first quarter of 2010, exports of salted whole Norwegian Cod totalled NOK 281 million, up by NOK 117.6 million or 72 percent compared with the same period last year. Exports of fresh Norwegian Cod fillets in the first quarter of 2010 totalled NOK 166.5 million, an increase of 22 percent compared with the same period last year. The volume of exports grew by 30 percent to 2,650 tonnes.
Exports of whole fresh Norwegian Cod totalled NOK 161.2 million in the first quarter of 2010. This is an increase of 56 percent or NOK 58 million compared to the first quarter last year. The main market for Norwegian Cod is Denmark and this year it shows excellent result. Both farmed and frozen Norwegian Cod has registered strong growth in this first quarter of 2010.
