Sagging krone further boosts Norway’s salmon exports

Norway’s seafood exports for November totalled NOK 16.7 billion (£1.2bn), 17% up on November last year.

Again farmed salmon was the main driver in this seemingly never-ending overseas sales surge.

So far this year, Norway has exported seafood worth NOK 158.2 billion (£11.5bn) 15% up over the same period in 2022.

The decline in the value of the krone has been quite marked. Today it is worth NOK 13.7 against sterling compared with NOK 11.25 against March last year, its strongest point.

Christian Chramer, CEO of the Norwegian Seafood Council said: “This year, the value will end at over NOK 170 billion (£1.24bn) , for which we can largely thank the weak Norwegian krone.

“The euro, which is our most important trading currency, has strengthened by 14% against the Norwegian krone in the past year.”

Chramer said November was a particularly good month for salmon.

“Increased volume and higher prices compared to the same period last year testify that there is an increase in demand in the market”, he added.

Norway’s salmon farmers exported fish worth NOK 11.7bn (£854m) last month, up 18% on a year ago. Poland, France and the Netherlands were the main markets last month.

Poland, which is Europe’s largest salmon processing country, had the greatest rise with an increase in export value of NOK 568 million (£41.4m) , or 43% compared to November last year. In volume terms sales were 20% higher at 22,887 tonnes.

The Seafood Council said there were three reasons for the increase – volume, currency factors and price factors out in the markets.

Seafood Council analyst and salmon expert Paul T. Aandahl said: “Price increases at the same time as volume growth show that there is still growth in demand for salmon compared to the same period last year.”