The United States imported less shrimp year-over-year in August 2022, continuing a developing trend.
The U.S. imported 157.4 million pounds, or 71,388 metric tons (MT) of shrimp in August, down from 196.8 million pounds (89,260 MT) in August 2021. The U.S. imported 148.9 million pounds (67,557 MT), of shrimp in July 2022, down from 167.7 million pounds (76,080 MT) in July 2021, and 76,848 MT of shrimp in June 2022, nearly level with the 76,784 MT it imported in June 2021.
Total U.S. shrimp imports between January and August 2022, at 1.27 billion pounds (578,175 MT) remained higher than the corresponding period of 2021, which totaled 1.25 billion pounds (568,266 MT).
Year-over-year imports from India and Indonesia decreased in August 2022. India exported 63 million pounds (28,568 MT), down from 81.2 million pounds (36,816 MT) in August 2021. Indonesia’s exports shrank to 26.8 million pounds (12,135 MT), down from 31.1 million pounds (14,086 MT) in August 2021.
Ecuador, the second-ranked shrimp exports to the U.S., slightly increased its monthly total to 36.9 million pounds (16,725 MT), up from 36.4 million pounds (16,496 MT) the same month a year prior.
Vietnam also saw a significant drop in its U.S. shrimp exports, which fell more than 50 percent to 12.7 million pounds (5,779 MT) from its August 2021 total of 29.4 million pounds (12,881 MT).
Thailand recorded 8.4 million pounds (3,805 MT) of shrimp exports to the U.S. in August 2022, down from 10 million pounds (4,531 MT) one year earlier.
Mexico’s U.S. exports jumped to 2.8 million pounds (1,280 MT), up from 1.7 million pounds (764 MT) in August 2021, when it was dealing with a U.S. ban on imports of wild-caught shrimp from its southern neighbor.
Argentina was the only other country to export more than 1,000 MT of shrimp to the U.S. in August, shipping 2.3 million pounds (1,037 MT), practically level with the 2.3 million pounds (1,053 MT) it sent in August 2021.
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