Norway is the world’s largest producer of salmon, and farmers along the coast produce about half of all farmed salmon. The salmon must have food, and Norwegian fish feed manufacturers put together a food package for the salmon that contains all the right nutrients. Before the full-scale invasion of Russia on February 24 last year, Russia was one of the most important producers of agricultural products. Norwegian fish feed producers imported several raw materials from Russia. Two producers still import news has extracted statistics from Statistics Norway on imports from Russia for raw materials used in fish feed. Here it appears that Norwegian manufacturers – 20 months into the war – continue to import raw materials from Russia, but to a lesser extent than before. Import of raw materials for fish feed is not a violation of the sanctions against Russia. Soybeans are grown in Russia, and are used in raw materials that are included in Norwegian fish feed. Photo: Espen Aarsvold / news news has contacted the four largest fish feed producers in Norway to find out which of them still imports raw materials from Russia. Skretting is one of those that still imports. – Before the war, Russia was one of the largest suppliers of raw materials to us, it accounted for 19 percent of our raw materials. We have worked systematically to reduce imports of Russian raw materials. We now no longer use Russian linseed oil, camelina or rapeseed oil. What remains, and which we still import, is soy protein concentrate from soybeans. They are grown in Russia and other European countries and processed in Russia, says sustainability officer at Skretting Norway, Leif Kjetil Skjæveland. – Why have you chosen to reduce imports from Russia for the salmon feed you make? – Because we do not want to contribute to Putin’s war machine. That is why we have reduced imports as much as possible. And we have ended the export of fish feed to Russian breeders. It was a very important financial activity for us. – But the fact that you are still importing soy protein concentrate is surely still an indirect contribution to Putin’s war machine in Ukraine? – Yes, and that is what is difficult. But we have therefore reduced significantly, and also made the choice not to sell our fish feed to Russia. sustainability manager at Skretting Norway, Leif Kjetil Skjæveland. Photo: Skretting Norway Skjæveland says they are continuing imports from Russia for economic and sustainability reasons. Russia is the only major European producer of this raw material, and Skretting wants Brazil, which is the other major producer, to have competition in the market so that the price of the raw material is kept down. On 21 September 2022, Russia declared that four Ukrainian oblasts – Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk and Luhansk – will be incorporated into Russia. All the counties are partially occupied by Russian forces. It is in this part of Ukraine that much of the cultivation of sunflower oil and soybean oil takes place, according to a memo from the US Department of Agriculture. Norway is the world’s largest producer of salmon, and farmers along the coast produce about half of all farmed salmon. Photo: NTB news asks Skretting Norway if they are sure that soy protein concentrate from Russia does not originate from areas that Russia has occupied in Ukraine. Skretting states that they have checked with the manufacturer, who confirms that the raw material does not originate in Ukraine. Read also: Norwegian shipping company transports cooking oil for Russia Asks all companies to stop trading with Russia Ihor Holovchenko is acting ambassador at the Ukrainian embassy in Oslo. He has seen the figures from news. He says Ukraine is asking all Norwegian companies to stop trading with Russia. He says all trade with Russia helps finance Russia’s war of aggression, and what he believes are war crimes against Ukraine. – We are grateful to the Norwegian companies who have already taken a principled stand by contributing to peace by cutting trade with Russia. The decline in trade shows that several companies have taken a stand and found alternatives, says Ihor Holovchenko at the Ukrainian embassy to news. Ihor Holovchenko, is Ukraine’s acting ambassador to Norway. Photo: Ukraine’s embassy in Oslo He says that Ukraine, which is a major producer of several of the raw materials used in fish feed, is now investigating the possibilities of exporting this to the Norwegian fish feed producers. Cargill Aqua Nutrition North Sea is another of the major fish feed manufacturers. They state that they still buy rapeseed oil from Russia. In an email to news, they write: “After the outbreak of war, we have reduced our purchases of raw materials from Russia and Belarus. In 2021, the purchases amounted to approx. 22% of our total raw material volume. This was reduced to approx. 15% in 2022 and we expect purchases in 2023 to amount to around 8%. Today’s raw material purchase from Russia is to ensure security of supply,” writes Cargill, which will not state the quantity or value of the imports from Russia. This is what a Norwegian rape field looks like. Rapeseed is one of the raw materials imported from Russia for use in fish feed. Cargill imports rapeseed oil from Russia. Photo: Dag Friis / news “A principled stand” Fish feed producer Biomar no longer imports raw materials from Russia. “Early after the Russian invasion, Biomar took a principled stand regarding trade with Russia and Belarus, and we have ended all purchases from both countries. We have also ended the sale of feed”, writes the producer in an e-mail to news. – BioMar’s decision was a moral decision. It cost us a lot, but we chose to implement it anyway, because it was and is right not to trade with war criminals, says Håvard Yngve Jørgensen in Biomar to news. He says Biomar has developed the raw material market further and is fully competitive without the use of raw materials from Russia or Belarus. The fish producer and breeder Mowi writes in an e-mail to news that they neither import nor export raw materials to Russia. From Statistics Norway’s statistics on the four largest raw materials used in fish feed, it appears that imports from Russia have decreased. Before the full-scale invasion, in 2021, the value of imports from Russia of these goods was about NOK 3.3 billion. Last year, the value fell to NOK 2.9 billion. So far this year, including August, the value is down to NOK 560 million. The four most important raw materials in fish feed are soy protein concentrate, rapeseed oil, linseed oil and camelina oil.
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Norwegian salmon eats raw materials from Russia – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
