Exports of fishery products and aquaculture in Chile reached in the first 10 months of 2012 a value of USD 3,806.6 million. This represents an increase of 1 per cent over the same period in 2011, when they totalled USD 3,770.7 million.
The volume of exports saw an increase of 11.3 per cent, from 942,255 tonnes in 2011 to 1,048,600 tonnes last year, said the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Subpesca).
Sales of frozen products and fishmeal were the most voluminous, representing 48.9 per cent and 24.1 per cent of the total, respectively, according to the latest Informe Sectorial de Pesca y Acuicultura by Subpesca. Following were frozen products (11.7 per cent of total) and oil (6.1 per cent), among others.
According to Subpesca statistics, the main export was Atlantic salmon, which generated revenue of USD 1,203 million, which is 31.6 per cent of the total value of exports. Behind were the rainbow trout, Pacific salmon and boneless pelagic fish, among others.
Chilean products were sent to 107 countries, of which the nine major ones concentrated 79.4 per cent of total exports. Among them are Japan, US, Brazil, China and Spain.
With respect to the extractive sector, the accumulated value of fish exports (517,000 tonnes) arrived between January and October 2012 for USD 1,076 million, reflecting a negative variation of 6.9 per cent compared with the same period last year.
In the first 10 months, 253,130 tonnes of fishmeal for USD 345.3 million were sold abroad, while a year earlier 260,570 tonnes worth USD 389.2 million had been exported. The most important destinations of fishmeal were China, Japan, South Korea and Germany.
The breakdown of the different types of fishmeal indicates that the prime variety had the highest volume, with 57.2 per cent of total exports, followed by the super prime and the standard one, with 25.3 per cent and 15.9 per cent, respectively.
Foreign sales of frozen seafood products totalled USD 484.6 million, which represented a fall of 5.9 per cent over the same period of 2011. These products were shipped mainly to Nigeria, Japan and the United States, which accounted for 19.5 per cent, 16.3 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively.
As for canned products, sales in the first 10 months of 2012 totalled USD 71 million, 12.8 per cent lower than a year earlier.
Aquaculture sector exports accounted for 71.7 per cent of total foreign sales and 50.7 per cent of total exports between January and October last year, with USD 2,730 million and about 531,000 tonnes.