Fish and other marine products brought in N$3.6 billion in export earnings to Namibia during the third quarter of 2024.
This is an increase of 6.6% from N$3.4 billion recorded in the same quarter of 2023.
This was announced by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) in its quarterly agriculture statistical bulletin for the third quarter of 2024.
“The import bill for fish products during the third quarter of 2024 stood at N$93.5 million, a decrease of 28.3% from N$130.5 million recorded in the same quarter of 2023,” the bulletin says.
However, less fish was landed during the third quarter of 2024, with 76 347 tonnes caught – 2.8% less than 78 509 tonnes recorded in the third quarter of 2023.
“Hake recorded the highest landings of 41 678 tonnes, followed by horse mackerel on 31 366 tonnes and monk in third place with 2 333 tonnes,” the NSA says.
The main export destination for fish and other marine resources in the period under review was Spain, accounting for 40%, consisting mainly of frozen hake fillets.
The second and third most significant export destinations were Zambia at 18.7% and South Africa at 7.8%.
Zambia mainly imported horse mackerel, while South Africa mainly bought frozen hake fillets.
The NSA says Namibia imported less marine resources, valued at N$93.5 million – a decrease from N$130.5 million in the corresponding quarter of 2023.
“These products, mainly hake, were chiefly sourced from South Africa, accounting for 57.1% during the quarter,” the bulletin says.
In second place was the United States (US), which accounted for 14.7% of imports, mainly sole.
Argentina accounted for 10.7%, with hake being the main product.
LIVESTOCK
Meanwhile, the number of livestock marketed in the third quarter of 2024 was 106 731, an increase of 14.9% from 92 881 animals marketed in the corresponding quarter of 2023.
A total of 76 953 cattle were sold during the quarter under review, while 18 206 goats and 11 572 sheep were marketed during that period.
Goat and sheep prices recorded an increase while cattle prices dropped.
Cattle fetched N$27.45 per kg (a reduction of 0.4%), goats recorded N$35.98 per kg (a 20.4% increase), whereas sheep recorded N$30.57 per kg (an increase of 1.4%).
The agronomy sector, covering controlled cereals, millet, white maize and wheat, produced 8 571 tonnes in the third quarter of 2024 compared to 19 940 in the corresponding quarter of 2023.
This is a huge drop of 57% in production, and this is attributed to white maize and millet, recording negative growths of 56.7% and 75.4% respectively. There was no production of wheat during the period under review.
In the third quarter of 2024, 8 366 tonnes of white maize was produced compared to 19 343 tonnes in the corresponding quarter of 2023.
Millet recorded 204 tonnes compared to 831 in the corresponding quarter of 2023.
These exports were primarily destined for Angola, Cyprus and the Democratic Republic of Congo, accounting for 89.8%, 8.0% and 2.2%, respectively.
During the quarter under review, the country imported grains worth N$717.8 million, up from N$415.5 million in the corresponding quarter of 2023.
During the third quarter of 2024, maize was the biggest grain import valued at N$413.4 million, followed by wheat at N$269.4 million, and rice at N$6.7 million.
The grains were mainly sourced from South Africa with 65.6%, Russia at 26.6%, and Poland with 6.6%.
– email: matthew@namibian.com.na
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