Brexit delays cause Iceland to adapt.
Iceland Review reports that delays and interruptions due to new Brexit rules mean that Icelandic exporters are moving seafood to Europe through Rotterdam, Netherlands, instead of Immingham docks, 6 miles from Grimsby, eastern England.
Back in February 2020, Iceland’s UK ambassador told Grimbsy Live clear mutual determination to ensure Brexit doesn’t damage the unique trading relationship his country enjoys within the Humber Estuary, a major seafood hub.
Iceland signed a trade continuity agreement with the UK last December.
But now, fresh Icelandic fish, which has up until now been regularly shipped to Immingham, and loaded on to trucks and driven to France and beyond, is now going straight to market in Europe through Rotterdam.
A representative for the major shipper of frozen and chilled seafood (including Icelandic salmon) Eimskip Björn Einarsson told the publication that Brexit delays were behind the move and that people have adapted their shipping procedures “without passing through the UK”.
According to Björn, this has not impacted distribution within the UK or export to the UK.
Last September, Undercurrent News reported that Poland now is Iceland’s most important salmon export market.