Market trends

US imports of shrimp continue to increase. During the period January-June 2006, according to official information, shrimp imports increased both in terms of volume (+15% to 238051 MT) and of value (+18% to 1635 million $), maintaining the trend described in previous reports.

In terms of volume suppliers, the main players are Thailand (29%), Ecuador (14%), Indonesia (13%) and China (11%), which together have a 67% import share, representing an increase in import concentration compared to 61% in the previous year. China showed an impressive growth of sales with US imports from this country up 52% in volume and 59% in value. Malaysia and Bangladesh, as well as Cambodia, Saudi Arabia and Guatemala also had a remarkable growth in their shrimp exports to the US.

Imports from Vietnam in volume were almost unchanged, but increased in value by about 13%. On the other hand, India reduced its level of exports to the US (-14%), and so did Venezuela (-23%).

Several countries are re-orienting their exports to the EU instead of to the US market responding to higher shrimp prices in the EU and to some difficulties experienced with the anti-dumping regulation in the US. An example of the latter situation is Brazil, which after the anti-dumping process reduced its exports by almost 90% both in volume and value terms. It is remarkable that Brazil is the only country among the six accused of dumping that reduced its exports. The other five (Thailand, China, Ecuador, Indonesia and Vietnam) saw an increase in the value of their exports and, excepting Vietnam, also increased the volume of trade. The case of Vietnam which experienced an increase in the value of US imports but not the volume reflects perhaps a shift towards more value-added products.

Main imported products

Most product categories show an increasing import trend compared to the corresponding period in 2005. Value-added products showed the highest volume growth rates with frozen breaded shrimp increasing by 23% and other frozen preparation imports by 38%. The category “others” includes canned shrimp which grew 26% in volume and 47% in value, and peeled shrimp (fresh, dried, salted and in brine) which grew 111% in volume and 95% in value. Nevertheless, the unit value of frozen breaded shrimp fell by 4% while the unit value for other frozen preparations grew modestly (1%).

Headless and shell-on: This category remains the main import segment, but reduced its share of total imports fell from 45% in the corresponding period of 2005, to 42% in 2006. This is the result of a lower growth rate, compared to the global import growth rate. The only size grades which registered a decline in imports were 21/25 and >70, but with a mixed effect. While the >70 grade unit value grew 11%, imports of the 21/25 size declined by 11% in volume terms and by 4% in value. Thailand and Ecuador are the main suppliers for the smaller sizes (from >70 to 41/50), while for 31/40, Indonesia is the dominant supplier. As for bigger sizes, Indonesia and Thailand are the main providers of the 26/30 grade. Mexico is the most important supplier for 21/25, and India and Bangladesh have the biggest import share for the biggest sizes, except for <15, size for which Vietnam is the main supplier.

Peeled frozen: Imports of these products increased by 10% in terms of volume and 15% in terms of value for the period under review. The main suppliers for these products are Thailand (28%), Indonesia (21%) and Vietnam (11%),

Breaded frozen: This category had a very strong growth (38%), and is responsible for 10% of shrimp imports. However, the import unit value for these products decreased by 4%. China is the most important supplier and accounts for 80% of imports followed by Thailand with 13%.

Breaded frozen products, as well as other frozen preparations increased their share of US shrimp imports reflecting the stronger growth rate for these imports compared to the overall increase,


Domestic supply

Landings from the Gulf area are good, reaching record levels in terms of the previous ten year period. Many say that this is an indirect result of the industry paralysis due to last year’s hurricanes which facilitated the growth of juveniles. However, there are still some problems with the renewal of damaged infrastructure. It was announced that the fall catching season would open in mid September, usually the season with the biggest capture levels,


Latest news

The market improved slightly during the first two weeks of September. Demand picked up probably as a result of the Labour Day holiday weekend. On the supply side, Gulf production remained at a good pace, both for white and brown varieties, In turn, black tiger is also facing a steady market, while inventories remain scarce. As for white cultured shrimp, Latin American products are dominating the current market; while a drop in prices has been reported, sales have been good. On the other hand, Asian white shrimp is very scarce. The severe dumping and “bonds” restrictions are strongly affecting supplies from these origins. Product in the market is selling, but there are limited supplies, which causes concern about availability for the remainder of the year. This is more evident for cooked and other further processed shrimp.

In the context of spot market activity, there is limited speculation in the shrimp market at present. Instead, buying is mainly just for immediate usage. This could lead to some shortages during the forthcoming heavy consumption season.

Dr Santiago Caro and Javier López
© 2006 INFOPESCA