Overview of Russia's import of frozen herring by product forms in 2006-2007

In 2007 Norway continued strengthening its position on the Russian market of imported herring against declining shares of other producers. The above development could be explained mostly by the product prices. More specifically, Norwegian herring fetched the lowest prices as compared to the prices of its main competitors - herring made in Iceland, the UK and Faroe Islands. The cheapness of the Norwegian herring could be explained by increased herring quotas in Norway resulting into growing landings. More specifically, according to provisional figures as per late December 2007, the total herring harvest in Norway exceeded 821,000 tonnes, 240,000 tonnes up on 2006, with the average prices coming down by NOK0.80 to NOK2.52 per kilo.

The Russian total import of frozen herring in 2007 amounted to 241,602 tonnes, 14% up on 211,679 tonnes in 2006. The import value grew by 7% to 212 million USD. The average import prices decreased by 6% from 0.94 to 0.88 USD per kilo. The total figures of Russia's herring imports also include volumes and value of Baltic herring.

Herring

Norway

Norway kept strengthening its position on the Russian market boosting its share up to 93%. The volume of Russia's import of Norwegian herring reached 223,741 tonnes, 26% up on 178,064 tonnes in 2006. The import value grew by 17% from 168 million USD in 2006 to 198 million in 2007 due to a 7% price fall from 0.95 to 0.88 USD per kilo.

In 2007 the Russian importers purchased 196,299 tonnes of w/r frozen herring, 35% up on 2006 when they exported 144,929 tonnes of the product.

As for flaps, in 2007 the Russian traders purchased 27,191 tonnes, 18% down on 2006 when they purchased 33,135 tonnes. The volume of Russia's shipments of HGT herring was small and amounted to 251 tonnes only.

The herring products originating from Norway were shipped to Russia mostly directly from Norway and there were also small shipments from Lithuania.

UK

The share of the UK on the Russian market of imported herring also decreased. For comparison, in 2004 the UK held 6% of the Russian herring import and in 2007 the share of the country fell to 2%. The volume of the Russian purchases of the UK herring decreased to 5056 tonnes, 35% down on 7758 tonnes in 2006. The decline could be attributed to a 9% price rise to 1 USD per kilo, 14% up on the price of the Norwegian product.

In the year 2007 Russia mostly purchased HGT herring originating from the UK. The volume of Russia's import of the product amounted to 3772 tonnes, 72% up on 2198 tonnes in 2006. The shipments of w/r herring in 2007 amounted to 657 tonnes, nearly 8 times down on 2006 when the Russian traders purchased 5207 tonnes of the products. The Russian import of butterfly herring fillets from the UK amounted to 627 tonnes, 78% up on 353 tonnes imported in 2006.

All the shipments of UK herring were delivered to Russia directly from the UK.

Iceland

Russia's import of frozen herring originating from Iceland, which was the third largest producer in 2007, sank by 62% to 4500 tonnes from 11,999 tonnes in 2006. The prices of the Icelandic herring were even higher than those of the UK herring and amounted to 1.09 USD per kilo, 2% up on 2006.

From Iceland the Russian traders purchased both w/r herring and flaps. Russia's import of w/r herring in 2007 amounted to 913 tonnes, more than 6 times down on 5699 tonnes in 2006. The volume of Icelandic shipments of butterfly herring fillets also decreased from 6499 tonnes in 2006 to 3587 tonnes in 2007, by 45% namely. The products were shipped to Russia mostly directly from Iceland and via Lithuania.

Faroe Islands

Russia's import of herring from the Faroe Islands in 2007 was not large at 2201 tonnes, 65% down on 2006 when the traders imported 6263 tonnes.

In 2007 Russia's traders shipped 2065 tonnes of w/r herring, 3 times down on 6263 tonnes in 2006. Import of HGT herring amounted to 136 tonnes only.

All shipments from the Faroe Islands were carried out directly from the producing country.

Baltic herring

The volume of Russia's import of frozen Baltic herring in 2007 amounted to 4925 tonnes at the total value of 2.6 million USD, nearly 9% down in volume and 5% down in value as compared to 5359 tonnes and 2.7 million USD in 2006. The largest producers of Baltic herring for Russia remained Finland, Sweden and Estonia. All shipments of products originating from those countries were carried out directly from them.

Finland

Russia's import of Baltic herring from Finland, the largest producer for Russia with a share of 68%, amounted to 3374 tonnes in 2007, only 3% down on 3468 tonnes in 2006.

Sweden

The Russian traders purchased Baltic herring originating from Sweden, the second largest producer with a share of 25%, amounted to 1207 tonnes in 2007, 35% down on 1850 tonnes in 2005.

Estonia

In 2007 Estonian shipments of frozen Baltic herring to Russia went up to 306 tonnes, more than 13 times larger than 23 tonnes in 2006. The share of Estonia in Russia's import of Baltic herring amounted to 6%.

Latvia

In 2007 the Russian traders also imported 37 tonnes of frozen Baltic herring from Latvia. In 2006 they did not purchase Baltic herring from the country.