W45: Salmon Update

In W45 in the salmon landscape, from Jan-23 to Otc-23, Chilean salmon and trout exports saw a slight growth of 0.04% year-on-year (YoY), reaching USD 5,380 million, with product volume rising 3.54% YoY to 625.22 thousand metric tons (mt). The United States (US) continues to be the leading destination for Chilean salmon and trout exports, despite a decrease of USD 23 million to USD 2.37 billion compared to the same period last year. On the other hand, the demand from Russia and China remained strong in 2023. From Jan-23 to Oct-23, Russia imported 40.75 thousand mt Chilean salmon, with a value of USD 294 million, indicating a 39.71% YoY increase. Similarly, China imported 38.11 thousand mt salmon, valued at USD 275 million, representing growth of 66% YoY.

According to INTERFAX.RU, in Russia, labeling of salmon caviar products will become mandatory for producers from May, 2024 and retail chains will have to join the labeling process from April 2025. The main purpose of labeling is to reduce the volume of counterfeit products entering Russia. The caviar producers are given one month to debug the processes so that from May 1, 2024, all new caviar should be labeled. Unmarked products that have entered the market before May 1, 2024, can be sold before expiration. Currently, the market share of illegal caviar in Russia exceeds 20%. However, implementing this new measurement will significantly reduce the amount of illegal caviar in the market.

Furthermore, the Scottish government has officially abandoned a proposal to create highly protected marine areas (HPMAs), which was good news for the country's salmon-farming sector. Scotland was exploring possibly designating 10% of its seas as HPMAs by 2026. If established, the HPMA would have placed stringent limits on all human activities within its boundaries, including fishing and aquaculture, which would have been banned. In response, the Scottish seafood sector has been persistently calling on the government to scrap the proposal for HPMAs for months now, citing a lack of evidence that they achieve their intended goals. Despite opposition to the HPMA plan, the Scottish government confirmed there will still be clear support for protecting and conserving the marine environment.

Lastly, the export volume of Norwegian fresh salmon in W44 declined by 1.9 thousand metric tons (mt), making a 7.13 drop week-on-week (WoW). The EU was the largest destination for Norwegian salmon, with an import volume of 19.25 thousand mt, a 19.8% YoY decrease. China bought 814 mt, a slight decrease from W43 at 986 mt, while the US imported 535 mt, a significant decrease of 28.67% WoW.