30 Oct 2012

Seafood export returns holding their value

12:44 pm on 30 October 2012

New Zealand seafood export returns are holding their value, despite the corrosive effects of a high dollar and some market access complications.

Seafood New Zealand says export returns for the first half of the year rose by 1% to $706 million, compared with the same period last year.

That's in contrast with other commodity export sectors, including dairy, meat, horticulture and timber and oil, that have all shown a decline.

International policy and market access manager Alastair Macfarlane says a strength of the seafood industry has been its diversity, which enables it to compete in many market niches.

Seafood New Zealand says exports to southern Europe, including Spain, Greece and Italy, fell significantly, partly due to an issue with export certificates which has now been resolved.

But exports of hoki to China for further processing and re-export to the United States, increased from $20 million to more than $30 million in value for the eight months to the end of August.