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Chilean seafood exports down 17% in May

CHILE
Thursday, June 27, 2024, 01:00 (GMT + 9)

According to a recent report from the Agency for the Promotion and Promotion of Exports of the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Economic and International Relations Directorate, ProChile, in May, Chile's seafood exports totaled $648 million, down 17.4% from last year. This was reported by Undercurrent News.

The decline was primarily due to a noticeable decline in salmon and trout exports, which amounted to $454 million, a fall of 17.1%, as well as sales of fish oil (down 47.8% to $33 million) and algae (down 47.5 % up to $11 million).

Fishmeal sales also fell 11.7% to $53 million, as did jack mackerel exports by 16.4% to $36 million.

However, some sub-sectors showed resilience and helped mitigate the overall decline, according to ProChile.

Mussel sales increased by 7.9% to $35 million. Squid exports increased by 17.8% to $20 million. Patagonian Toothfish exports increased by 45.9% to $10 million, and hake (gayi) exports increased by 7.6%. reaching $3 million.

Among the fastest-growing markets, Brazil stood out with imports of $81 million, an increase of 17.4%. This growth was driven primarily by salmon and trout exports, which totaled $79 million, an increase of 19.7%. Brazil accounted for 11.9% of total exports for the month.

Spain was the second largest destination market with $32 million in shipments, an increase of 15.4%. This was facilitated by an increase in mussel shipments, which rose to $13 million, an increase of 29.5%; cuttlefish - $8 million, an increase of 55.5%; and hake - by $2 million, an increase of 2.4%. Spain accounted for 4.6% of total exports.

France came in third with $20 million, a significant increase of 94.5%. This was mainly due to a sharp increase in fish oil exports, which amounted to $12 million, an increase of 678.4%.

Exports of salmon and trout to this market amounted to $3 million, a decline of 25.6%, and mussels - $2 million, an increase of 9%. France accounted for 2.9% of total exports in May.

In contrast, several major markets saw significant declines. Exports to the US fell to $235 million, down 15.9%. China saw a slight decline of 1% to $85 million. Exports to Japan were down significantly by 30.3% to $51 million, and Mexico was down 8.1% for a total export value of $18 million. 

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