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Feb 06, 2020 (newstodate): The outbreak of Coronavirus in China is dealing a blow to Norway's seafood export volumes.
   In week 5, 2020, ending February 5, only 10 tonnes of salmon was exported to China against 446 tonnes in week 5, 2019.
   And in the first five weeks of this year, a total of 1,864 tonnes of seafood was exported to China against 2,216 tonnes in 2019, a drop by 16 percent, y-o-y.
   Volumes exported to Hong Kong dropped 46 percent to 133 tonnes, while outside the Chinese realm Taiwan actually saw volumes up by 47 percent to 195 tonnes in week 5, 2020.
   It should be noted, however, that in 2020 the Chinese New Year began on January 25 and was due to end on February 8, making direct year-on-year comparisions difficult.
   -We are now seeing a drop in volumes of seafood destined for China, but the effect from Coronavirus will only emerge  in the coming weeks, says Morten Wurgler, DB Schenker Norway Senior Director, Head of Air Freight.
   -As of now, probably only 35-30 percent of the decline until week 5 is related to the Coronavirus, while the drop is primarily related to the Chinese New Year, where volumes are always down.
   -What is crucial now is to see if the effects of the Coronavirus will spread into South Korea and Japan. This would indeed have a deep impact on Norwegian seafood exports, says Mr Wurgler.
   In week 5, 2020, salmon exports to South Korea were up 39 percent, y-o-y, to 411 tonnes, and volumes to Japan were almost unchanged against last year, totalling 320 tonnes.