While Shrimptails expected southern European purchases to pick up after summer, buyers continue to only buy what they need in the short term.
A disturbing factor in the market is that Argentine red shrimp (P. muelleri) stocks are much higher than predicted and, consequently, are priced higher than the newly available raw materials. With prices for Argentine red shrimp at low levels, it could prompt customers to move to buying Argentine red shrimp at the expense of the higher priced Pacific white shrimp (L. vannamei).
That said, imports of Pacific white shrimp are expected to remain stable compared to 2018 as importers are predicted to only buy what they need to meet existing demand in an attempt to avoid having high stocks left by the beginning of 2020.
