OSLO, October 22. /TASS/. The amount of salmon supplies to Russia in the third quarter of 2014, after Moscow’s embargo on food imports from the EU and the US, dropped 0.9% to 32,700 tons, year-on-year, Norway's Marine Harvest said in a report on Wednesday.
“Consumption in Russia however kept stable despite the sanctions, proving the dynamic character of the global salmon market,” the report says.
Marine Harvest, the world's largest salmon producer, estimates that the global harvest of Atlantic salmon amounted to 511, 000 tons in the third quarter, an increase of 12% compared to same quarter of last year.
Among the fastest growing are the salmon supplies from Chile (28.4%) and the Faroe Islands (20.8%). “The Faroe Islands and Chile, which were not impacted by the sanctions, directed increased volumes to Russia,” the report says.
Europe is by far the largest market for Marine Harvest’s salmon with 69% of the total revenues.
Russia’s share of sales has been reduced from 6% to 3% from the third quarter of 2013 to the same period this year as a result of the Russian ban on import of salmon from most European producers, Marine Harvest says.
The company's net profit plunged 46% to 206 million NOK ($31.4 million), despite a 33% increase in harvest compared with the same quarter of 2013. This is largely due to falling prices after Russia’s embargo on foods supplies.
In response to Western sanctions amid the Ukrainian crisis, in early August Russia imposed a one-year ban on imports of beef, pork, poultry, fish, cheeses, fruit, vegetables and dairy products from Australia, Canada, the EU, the United States and Norway.