OSLO, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Norway exported 2.7 million tonnes of seafood to reach a new record of 99 billion Norwegian kroner (11.56 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018, the Norwegian Seafood Council said on Monday.
This represents a volume increase of 4 percent and a value increase of 5 percent compared to 2017, the council said in a report.
"Records were broken for Norwegian seafood, both in terms of export value and export volume in 2018. This despite Brexit, the threat of trade wars and other challenges that have together created unpredictability in the world market," said Renate Larsen, CEO of the Norwegian Seafood Council.
"Seafood exports to the European Union (EU) market have increased due to lower competition and a favourable currency situation against the euro," she said.
Norway exported 1.7 million tonnes of seafood to the EU worth 66 billion kroner in 2018. This is an increase of 8 percent, while the value increased by 5.1 billion kroner, or 8 percent, compared to 2017.
The Norwegian Seafood Council said 2018 was the first year in which a single market exceeded 10 billion kroner in export value.
Poland was Norway's largest single market measured in export value in 2018, with 228,000 tonnes of seafood worth 10.2 billion kroner in 2018. This represents a volume increase of 17 percent and an increase in export value of 1.3 billion kroner, or 14 percent, compared to 2017.
Salmon has the largest share of any species measured in terms of both export volume and export value, according to the council.
Norway exported 1.1 million tonnes of salmon worth 67.8 billion kroner in 2018. This is a volume increase of 5 percent, and an increase in value of 5 percent from 2017. (1 U.S. dollar = 8.5643 Norwegian kroner)
