The top six exporters of shrimp to the United States all posted significantly higher year-over-year totals in January 2022, resulting in an all-time record for U.S. shrimp imports in the month.
The U.S. imported 172.7 million pounds (78,356 MT) of shrimp in January, up from 153.1 million pounds (69,452 MT) in January 2021. It imported 143.1 million pounds (64,929 MT) in January 2020. U.S. shrimp imports have continued to increase through the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, they hit a record of nearly 1.8 billion pounds (893,644 MT), surpassed the previous annual high for the U.S. of 1.49 billion pounds (745,675 MT), set in 2020, which itself was up from the nearly 1.4 billion pounds (698,358 MT) the U.S. imported in 2019.
India led the tables with 65.1 million pounds (29,518 MT) of exports to the U.S. in January 2022, up from 60.5 million pounds of shrimp (27,458 MT) in January 2021. Indonesia was second with 38.6 million pounds (17,513 MT) of U.S. shipments in January, an increase over the 35.4 million pounds (16,067 MT) it sent in January 2021. Ecuador sent 32.8 million pounds (14,856 MT), an increase over the 20.9 million pounds (9,464 MT) it shipped to the U.S. in January 2021.
Behind those top three suppliers, Vietnam, Thailand, and Mexico all increased their U.S. exports as well. Vietnam exported 13.8 million pounds (6,240 MT) of shrimp to the U.S. in January 2022, up 13.1 million pounds (5,943 MT) in January 2021. Thailand sent 8.5 million pounds (3,836 MT) of shrimp to the U.S., up from 7.9 million pounds (3,565 MT) a year prior. And Mexico sent 5.3 million pounds (2,392 MT), up from 4.4 million pounds (2,010 MT) in January 2021.
Rounding out the top 10 shrimp suppliers to the U.S. in January were Argentina (1,651 MT), China (690 MT), Peru (449 MT), and Bangladesh (312 MT).
Photo courtesy of Foodio/Shutterstock
