JAKARTA: Indonesian shrimp imports by the US increased 30.32% year-on-year in September, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Shrimp imports from Indonesia increased from 7,368 metric tons in September 2014 to 9,602t in the same month of this year. In addition to Indonesia, Mexico and Thailand were the only other main production countries whose US import numbers increased in September, which reflects the countries’ continued recovery from early mortality syndrome (EMS).
US shrimp imports from Mexico and Thailand — both of which were hit hard by EMS — in September were up 27.9% year-on-year to 2,324 metric tons and 4.9% y-o-y to 6,621t respectively, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Earlier this year, Undercurrent News reported that the two countries were struggling as prices were falling below production costs.
Thailand and Mexico’s recovery comes as overall volume of shrimp imported into the US continues to decline, down 6.51% y-o-y from September 2014, after a nearly 30% drop in the previous month.
Overall shrimp value has also continued to fall, down 28.48% y-o-y in September 2015 to $470.84 million. The per kilogram average for September 2015 is $8.75, down from $11.62/kg in the same month of 2014.
Volumes coming out of India, still the top supplier by far, saw a slight decrease to 15,289t, a 0.8% decline, and Ecuador’s shrimp volume also decreased by 14.4%, to 6,207t.
According to Ken Salzinger, owner of seafood brokerage firm Kenmar Sales and Marketing, in his newsletter “Ken’s Catch”, shrimp prices are now moving up, and prices will likely remain high throughout the year.
“I believe prices will remain at these levels through the holidays as the glut of inventory is depleted. With pricing moving up overseas, importers may have to pay higher prices and pass these additional costs to distributors.” he said in his newsletter.
As predicted earlier this summer, Vietnamese shrimp exporters are experiencing difficulty selling their product, as predicted earlier this summer, as export volumes to the US fell by 31.4% to 5,794t.
Earlier this summer at the Vietfish show in Ho Chi Minh City, Undercurrent reported that this would likely be a difficult year for Vietnamese shrimp exporters as sales the the US, the EU and Japan — its top markets — fell in part due to their antibiotic use.
