November 26, 2014
Chile''s seafood exports climb 18.5%
Chile''s fish and
aquaculture exports in the first nine months of the year reached US$4.12 million, up 18.5% from the US$3.48 million it got during the same period last year.
In terms of volume, the increase was a slight 0.7%, however. The change was from 905,940 tonnes in 2013 to 912,620 tonnes this year, Chile''s Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (SUBPESCA) said.
Frozen products constituted 48.6% of the total seafood exports. Fishmeal accounted for only 21.2%, with fresh refrigerated products constituting 14.8% and fish oil 7%, according to the latest SUBPESCA report.
Atlantic salmon accounted for 49% of the frozen products shipped abroad, with rainbow trout and Pacific salmon accounting for the balance.
Chile''s exports went to 105 countries but the bulk of these (77.3%) ended up in the United States, Japan, Brazil, China and Russia.
Fishmeal exports from January to September this year hit 193,806 tonnes, up from only 168,800 tonnes for the same period last year, although it was a big drop in terms of value. Total fishmeal exports in the first nine months this year was worth US$303.8 million as against US$310.2 million for the same period in 2013.
Chile''s top fishmeal importers this year were China, Japan, Spain, South Korea and Italy. Of these fishmeal exports, 59.2% was of prime quality, 32% super prime quality and 7.2% standard.
Frozen
seafoodexports totalled US$369.7 million, an 8.8% over the same period last year, SUBPESCA said.
Its top seafood importers this year has been Japan, accounting for 16.5% of the total, the US for 15.6% and Nigeria for 14.6 per cent.