Fishery and aquaculture product exports in Chile reached a value of USD 3,446 million in the first nine months of 2012.
This figure represents an increase of 1.8 per cent over the same period of 2011, when USD 3,385 million was obtained.
The volume of exports grew by 11.7 per cent, changing from 850,000 tonnes in 2011 to 950,000 tonnes this year, the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture(Subpesca) reported.
The frozen product shipments accounted for 48.9 per cent of total exports. They were followed by fishmeal, fresh chilled products and dried algae, according to the latest Subpesca Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector.
According to Subpesca statistics, the main export was Atlantic salmon, which accounted for 31 per cent of the total value of sales abroad. It was followed by the rainbow trout and the Pacific salmon.
Chilean products were destined for 107 countries, of which the nine major ones concentrated 80 per cent of total exports. Among them the ones that stood out were Japan, US, Brazil, China and Spain.
With respect to the catching sector, the accumulated value of fish exports (476,000 tonnes) between January and September 2012 reached USD 971.5 million, reflecting a slight increase compared with the same period last year.
In the first nine months, 237,300 tonnes of fishmeal were sold abroad for USD 320 million, while a year earlier 238,750 tonnes worth USD 360 million had been exported.
In value terms, the decline was 16.5 per cent year on year. The most important destinations of fishmeal were China, Japan and Germany.
Out of the exported fishmeal, 56.7 per cent had prime quality, 25.3 per cent had super prime quality and 16.4 per cent was standard.
Sales of frozen seafood products abroad totalled USD 436.5 million, which represented a decrease of 1.4 per cent over the same period of 2011.
These products were shipped mainly to Nigeria, United States and Japan, which had shares in value that accounted for 21.7 per cent, 16.9 per cent and 14.4 per cent, respectively.
As for canned products, sales in the first nine months of 2011 totalled USD 60.2 million, 14.9 per cent lower than a year earlier.
The main markets were Spain, Singapore and Hong Kong, with shares of 22.7 per cent, 21.1 per cent and 11.4 per cent, respectively.
Aquaculture sector exports accounted for 71.8 per cent of the total value of sales abroad and 49.9 per cent of total exports between January and September this year, with USD 2,475 million and about 474,000 tonnes.