OSLO: China is the next market to conquer for Norwegian salmon and seafood investors.
“China is too big to ignore,” Hogne I. Tyssoy, portfolio manager of the Holberg Triton fund, said in an interview in Oslo. “Now when it’s opening again, Norwegian seafood has an exciting future in China.”
Trade relations between China and Norway were normalized in December, ending a six-year freeze that began after the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to a Chinese dissident. Norway, the world’s largest Atlantic salmon producer, is seeking to increase seafood exports as the global demand for healthy proteins rises, especially in emerging markets such as China.
Tyssoy will join Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s delegation to China in April, along with other business executives and investors as Norway seeks to re-establish contact with the world’s most populous country.
The industry is looking for new markets and new ways to boost margins. After advancing more than 400 percent over the past five years, the Oslo Seafood Index has slid 16 percent so far this year.
The Bergen-based equity fund Holberg Triton, which manages about 670m kroner ($80m) and invests only in the seafood sector, returned 30 percent since its start two years ago.
The fund’s largest holdings as of February included Leroy Seafood Group ASA, Sanford Ltd., Austevoll Seafood ASA and Bakkafrost P/F.
