US salmon market on the up
Recent figures from the US Department of Commerce show that Americans brought in almost 20,000 tonnes more fillets of Atlantic salmon last year compared with 2013, and they paid more for these fillets.
The government’s figures show volume and value of the imports of three different Atlantic salmon products - fresh (dressed, head-on), frozen and fillets. The volume of fresh product dropped in 2014 to just over 78,000 tonnes from a high of just over 100,000 tonnes in 2012. Frozen Atlantic salmon recorded a record-high volume of 3,109 tonnes imported last year (up by 22% from 2013), and so did the fillet segment of the industry, with a total of over 163,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon fillets brought in - an increase of 13% over last year.
The total volume of imported Atlantic salmon products to the US during 2014 was up by about five per cent, to a total of 244,565 tonnes, while the value of these imports showed an increase of about US$ 0.73 (~€0.65) per kilo, or approximately 14% more than 2013.
US Imports-
| Atlantic salmon |
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
| Fresh | Volume, t | 100,845 | 86,381 | 78,083 |
|
| Value, US$ ‘000 | 567,815 | 615,218 | 568,472 |
| Frozen | Volume, t | 2,190 | 2,542 | 3,109 |
|
| Value, US$ ‘000 | 12,376 | 14,785 | 21,458 |
| Fillets | Volume, t | 125,517 | 144,239 | 163,374 |
|
| Value, US$ ‘000 | 1,025,897 | 1,445,397 | 1,766,462 |
1 US$ ~ 0.883€, 7.61 NOK
The figures also showed a big increase in the value of fresh Pacific salmon imports - up by some 70% to a total of over US$ 111 million, while the volume actually dropped by about 9 per cent, indicating an increase in the demand for fresh, farmed Chinook and Coho salmon.
