The Hindu Business Line : Indian shrimp exports to US fall sharply in H1

Kochi Aug 27 There has been a significant fall in the quantum and value of Indian shrimp exports to the US markets ever since the imposition of anti-dumping duty and customs bond on such shipments. During the first quarter of the current year, Indian shrimp exports to the US were only 2,000 tonnes, less than half the 4,100 tonnes recorded for the corresponding quarter of 2007.

In Last 4 years

A report in the Seafood Export Journal has pointed out that this significant fall extends well into the last four years as well. Indian shrimp exports to the US fell from 15,200 tonnes in the first quarter of 2004 to 8,000 tonnes in 2005 and then to 7,300 tonnes in 2006, before plunging to 2,000 tonnes in 2008.

While the report pointed out that there has been a significant fall in customer confidence in the US, it has not affected the import and consumption of shrimps to a similar extent.

“Traditionally, shrimp is considered an upper-end product and economic crisis in the US has always resulted in lower shrimp consumption. However, some recent reports indicate that shrimp might be less affected by the present crisis than other food products,” the report said.

Declining trend

During January-March 2008, shrimp imports by the US were 1.23 lakh tonnes, registering a marginal decline of two per cent, while the value of imports remained almost steady at $861 million. But the case of India was starkly different. The fall in shrimp imports from India was equally visible in value as well. Value of shrimp imports from India fell from $124.6 million during the first quarter of 2004 to $69.8 million during the corresponding quarter of 2005 and then to $62.9 million in 2006, further to $39 million in 2007 and finally to $27.1 million in 2008.

Other countries

Despite a 12 per cent fall in value and quantity, Thailand remained the top shrimp exporter to the US recording 35,000 tonnes in the first three months of 2008. It was followed by Indonesia, which recorded a significant growth in quantity and value of shrimp exports into the US at 20,700 tonnes.

India was the eighth country in value and quantity of shrimp exports to the US.

Asian nations such as Thailand, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Bangladesh etc., accounted for almost 80 per cent of the total peeled frozen shrimp imports into the US and over 95 per cent of other frozen shrimp such as breaded. The Latin American countries had a bigger share in the frozen shell-on shrimp exports to the US market.

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