Norwegian Seafood Council says they do not know what the reason is of growth in exports to Vietnam, while major exporter Salmar says they do not care about where their products port.
Norway’s market for fresh salmon in China have fallen from about 90 percent in 2010 to under 30 percent in the first half of this year. However, according to NTB’s reporting, far more Norwegian salmon is sold to China than the official export statistics show.
This is thanks to the dramatic export increase to Vietnam and the Norwegian salmon is transfered from there. In 2010, Norway exported 590 tonnes of fresh salmon to Vietnam to a value of 26 million NOK. In comparison, only so far this year, 10,000 tonnes of salmon were exported to Vietnam, worth a total of NOK 460 million NOK.
China-Norway Crisis
China has introduced sanctions against Norway as soon as the Nobel Peace prize is announced to be given to the Chinese dissinent, Liu xiabo in 2010.
Although the Norwegian government has stressed that the Nobel committee is independent, Beijing has punished its host nation with political and economic sanctions.
Until now, Norway has tried to use quiet diplomacy to ease the situation but, with little sign of progress.