Weighing seafood products for export. (Photo: Subpesca)
CHILEMonday, May 11, 2015, 00:20 (GMT + 9)
In the first three months of 2015, exports of fishery and aquaculture products from Chile reached a value of USD 983.3 million, 1.7 per cent more than in the same period of 2014, when USD 966.7 million was obtained.
Meanwhile, the export volume during the first quarter of 2015 experienced a rise of 14.4 per cent, changing from 184,646 tonnes between January and March 2014 to 211,315 tonnes this year, the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (SUBPESCA) reported.
In terms of volume, the frozen products line was the one having higher participation in the shipments abroad: up to March it represented 56.2 per cent of the total, according to the latest Sector Report on Fisheries and Aquaculture by SUBPESCA.
It was followed by fresh chilled fish and fishmeal.
According to statistics from SUBPESCA, the main exported product was Atlantic salmon, which constituted 46 per cent of the total value of sales abroad (USD 452.7 million).
Those that followed were Pacific salmon (21.7 per cent), rainbow trout (8.5 per cent) and pelagic fish s/e group.
Chilean products were destined for 85 countries, of which the nine main ones accounted for 81 per cent of total exported value. Those that highlighted were Japan, the US, Brazil, China, Russia and South Korea.
Aquaculture sector exports represented 82.8 per cent in value and 68.7 per cent of the total exported volume up to March 2015, with USD 814.3 million and about 145,200 tonnes.
With respect to the capture sector, the accumulated value of fishery exports (66,000 tonnes) reached USD 169 million in the first quarter, indicating a rise of 0.1 per cent compared to the same period last year.
In the first three months fishmeal was sold abroad for USD 46.4 million, that is to say, 30.9 per cent less than a year earlier. The most important destinations for this product were South Korea, Canada, Germany and Japan.
Of the total exported fishmeal, 67.2 per cent had prime quality, 27.5 per cent had super prime quality and 3.7 per cent was standard.
Sales of frozen seafood products abroad totalled USD 64.5 million, which represented an increase of 15.6 per cent over the same quarter of 2014.
The main markets were the United States, Peru and Vietnam, with participations in value of 16.5 per cent, 10.4 per cent and 8.1 per cent, respectively.
As for the refrigerated fresh fish, sales in the first three months of 2015 totalled USD 235.9 million, 10.5 per cent lower than a year earlier.
The exported volume was 34,400 tonnes, 11.9 per cent more than in the same period of 2014, said SUBPESCA.