Norway Nets Record Salmon Sales In 2016

OSLO, Jan 4, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 04th Jan, 2017 ) : Norway made a record amount on its salmon sales last year, helping to partially offset a drop in oil revenues, the main engine of the country's economy, data showed Wednesday.

Amid lower harvests and problems with sea lice, strong demand, notably from China, pushed up prices by 40 percent last year. And that meant that in the past year, Norway's farmed salmon and farmed trout sales totalled 65.3 billion kroner (7.5 billion Euros, $7.8 billion), an increase of 31 percent over 2015, according to the Norwegian Seafood Council.

Exports of all Norwegian seafood jumped by 23 percent to a record 91.6 billion kroner. Salmon accounts for two third of all Norwegian seafood exports globally, with France being the main consumer of Norwegian seafood products.

Analysts expect prices to rise even further this year due to continued strong demand and the reopening of the Chinese market, which has become accessible again after a recent reconciliation between China and Norway. Relations between the two nations had been strained after Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace prize in Oslo.