Record Exports of Mackerel in September

Total exports of mackerel in September 2010 were valued at NOK 1.3 billion, an increase of NOK 935 million or 273% compared to September 2009. Exports of herring in show an increase in value of 10%, from NOK 127 million in September 2009 to NOK 140 million in September 2010. The total value of exports of pelagic fish in the first nine months of the year was NOK 4.6 billion, up by 13% compared to the same period last year, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to NSEC.

Never has so much mackerel been exported in a single month than in September 2010. The closest we come is October 2001, when the volume of exports was 19,000 tonnes lower and the value NOK 189 million less than in September.

"The large volume of exports in September is attributable to two primary factors," explains senior analyst Kristin Lien from the Norwegian Seafood Export Council. "The extraordinarily large quotas combined with the fact that the fish arrived very early this year compared to previous years, and that Japan in particular has imported a large volume of mackerel, both directly and via China."
Mackerel to Japan

In September, the volume of exports of frozen mackerel totalled 124,000 tonnes, an increase of 97,000 tonnes from September last year. Much of this volume has been exported to Japan: 42,000 tonnes were exported directly, while a further 26,000 tonnes was exported to China for filleting/processing, after which most of it will be re-exported to Japan. The remainder is divided between many markets, the biggest being Nigeria (23,000 tonnes), Turkey (7,000 tonnes) and the Netherlands (5,000 tonnes). The average price of frozen whole mackerel in September showed a fall of 8% or NOK 0.82 compared to September last year. This can be partly explained by the fact that at the start of the fishing season the mackerel were relatively small in size.

In the first nine months of 2010, mackerel exports totalled NOK 1.9 billion, an increase of no less than 77% compared to the same period last year.
Russia biggest herring market

In the first nine months of 2010, the value of exports of herring products to Russia totalled NOK 600 million, which is 9% lower than in the same period last year. The volume of exports in this period can be broken down into 85,000 tonnes of frozen whole herring (slightly down on the same period last year) and 37,000 tonnes of herring fillet products (slightly up on last year). Germany is our next biggest herring market, with exports for the first nine months of 2010 valued at NOK 292 million. The volume of exports to Germany included 34,000 tonnes of fillet products, which is 11,000 tonnes more than in the same period last year. The third biggest herring market is Nigeria, with exports in the first nine months of 2010 valued at NOK 221 million and volume comprising 69,000 tonnes of whole frozen herring. Next come the Netherlands (NOK 216 million), Ukraine (NOK 208 million) and Poland (NOK 138 million). Exports to the Netherlands and Poland have increased, while exports to Ukraine have shown a downturn.