Are the Norwegians outperforming Iceland when it comes to Greenland Halibut to Asia?

December 08, 2017

The key markets in Asia for Greenland halibut both from Norway and Iceland have been in China and Japan. The main products to these markets are the frozen whole Greenland halibut. Large portion of the exports from Iceland and Norway to Japan is re-exported to China for processing for the final consumers in Japan.

If we look at the combined volume to these two Asian markets for these two exporters we can see that the combined volumes from Norway have already surpassed the 2016 volumes even though the 2017 exports only include 10 months of the year.

Exports of Greenland Halibut from Norway to China

Exports of Greenland Halibut from Norway to Japan

The exports from Iceland to the same markets are not as strong in 2017 in comparison to 2016 and as the two last months of the year have traditionally not been the strongest months of the year the outlook for all of 2017 is that the volumes will be down.

Exports of Greenland Halibut from Iceland to China

Exports of Greenland Halibut from Iceland to Japan

The average annual export prices to these two markets show a slight increase in the exports from Iceland for both China and Japan while the export prices from Norway are down for China and up for Japan. There are several possible explanations for this. The export product portfolio from Norway and Iceland might not be identical explaining the price gap between Norway and Iceland and the tariff situation in China might play a role. But with the recent lowering of tariffs for Norwegian seafood imports into China we are likely to see some upward price changes and easier market access for the Norwegian Greenland halibut in China. The impact of the FTA between China and Iceland does not seem to be a clear cut. Even though prices from Iceland to China have been increasing slightly year on year especially from 2015 there is now clear volume growth in this market as Iceland is concerned. So the key question to be asked are the Norwegians outperforming Iceland in China?

It will be interesting to follow these market developments and analyze if this is only a temporary trend or if this is the start of a shift. Meanwhile, follow our analysis on markofish.com. For further information contact us at info@markofish.com.