Norway sales of fresh salmon and trout to Southeast Asia up 10%

Norway exported 53,569 tonnes of fresh salmon and trout to Southeast Asia and Taiwan in the first eight months of the year, a 10% increase compared to the same period last year.

The export value increased by 13%, according to the Norwegian Seafood Council in its latest newsletter from Southeast Asia.

A total of just over four billion kroner (£318 million) worth of Norwegian salmon was exported to the region by the end of August. Trout exports were worth just over one billion kroner.

According to the Seafood Council, 81% of the salmon and trout were exported fresh.

Positive developments

“There have been several positive developments in Vietnam, where the challenges related to reference pricing appear to have been resolved,” said Åshild Nakken, the Norwegian Seafood Council's envoy in Southeast Asia, in the newsletter.

Vietnam has submitted new draft animal quarantine regulations for consultation. One of the proposals is to remove the requirement for testing for salmonid alphavirus (SAV) when importing Atlantic salmon.

Requirements for testing for, among other things, infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) and infectious hematopoietic necrosis (IHN) are still in the draft.

Future requirements

The consultation deadline is October 16. Norwegian authorities are to submit input before the deadline, while the dialogue on Vietnam's future import requirements continues.

The Seafood Council implements several marketing initiatives for Norwegian salmon and trout in Southeast Asia.

A two-month campaign for Norwegian salmon has been launched in Thailand in collaboration with several retail and restaurant chains. More than 300 employees from the retail and seafood industry have also participated in six courses on Norwegian farming, storage, handling and filleting.

In Vietnam, an autumn campaign for Norwegian salmon will be carried out in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The campaign includes 33 stores and 14 restaurants.

A separate campaign for Norwegian fjord trout is also planned in Thailand in November.