NEW DELHI: India’s shrimp exports to the US spiked 34.8% year-on-year in November 2016, according to the latest numbers published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. Indian shrimp exports rose from 12,544 metric tons in November 2015 to 16,909t a year later. “India has recaptured its place as the number one exporter to the US despite the fact that we have heard that its exports to China have grown in leaps and bounds,” broker Ken Salzinger said in his newsletter. “In fact, India’s exports to the US for the first 11 months have already exceeded its total for the year 2015.”
India’s 2016 shrimp exports to the US are set to exceed 2016’s, despite China’s aggressive shrimp importation, according to Salzinger. Overall US shrimp imports increased 5.6%, pushed up as the country imported more shrimp from Thailand, Vietnam and China as well as India. Chinese exports to the US increased by 28.5% to 3,568t, Vietnamese exports rose by 11% to 8,263t and exports from Thailand increased 4% to 8,991t.The other top shrimp exporting countries — Indonesia, Ecuador and Mexico — saw imports to the US fall by 6%, 11.6% and 22.4% respectively. Y-o-y prices increased from $8.98 per kilogram to nearly $10/kg.
