India has once again surpassed 20,000 metric tons (MT) of shrimp exports to the U.S. in the month of June, according to the latest import numbers.
The United States imported 20,559 MT of shrimp from India in June, up 15.8 percent over June 2018. That total comes just after the country hit 20,391 MT in May, the first time it surpassed 20,000 MT in a month.
All told, the country has sent 115,694 MT of shrimp to the U.S. so far in 2019, a 14 percent increase over 2018. The country is well on its way to breaking its previous record of 247,783 MT sent between January and December 2018.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, China’s numbers continue to be significantly lower than in 2018. The country sent 1,861 MT of shrimp in June 2019, a 46.7 percent decrease from June 2018. So far, the country has exported 9,466 MT of shrimp to the U.S., a drop of 52.5 percent.
China was not the largest decrease, however. Honduras, as well, sent significantly fewer shrimp in 2019: The country sent 250 MT this past June versus the 546 MT it sent in 2018. That represents a 54.2 percent decrease for June.
Overall, despite some significant decreases, June saw a 6.6 percent increase over last year in overall U.S. imports of shrimp. While the U.S. imported less shrimp in 2019 than it did in the same period in 2018, the June increase has brought the two totals within 2,000 MT: 302,495 MT in 2018 versus 300,683 in 2019.
This is despite some major exporters – Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Peru, Honduras, and the aforementioned China – all having sent less shrimp to the U.S. so far in 2019 than in 2018.
Indonesia sent 11,073 MT in June, up over the 10,467 MT sent in 2018, an increase of 5.8 percent. Despite the increase, the country is still down for the year by 6.2 percent, at a total of 61,843 MT so far in 2019.
Vietnam also saw an increase, sending 10 percent more shrimp in June 2019 than 2018: 4,130 MT in 2019 versus 3,755 MT in 2018. The increase has put it only slightly behind pace, with just a 2.3 percent drop in exports to the U.S. compared to last year.
Thailand has continued to see exports fall, however, with a 7.2 percent drop in the amount of shrimp exported to the U.S. in June compared to last year. The country sent 3,034 MT in June 2019, down from 3,268 MT in 2018. The country is down 17 percent for the year, from 21,492 MT between January and June in 2018 to 17,841 MT in the same period this year.
The biggest increases in June came from Mexico, saw an over 100 percent increase in exports to the U.S. Mexico sent 871 MT of shrimp to the U.S., a whopping 135 percent increase over its 370 MT in June 2018. So far this year the country has sent 37.8 percent more shrimp to the U.S. than it did in 2018, the largest increase of any country.
Ecuador also continues to exceed its 2018 pace. The country sent 6,950 MT of shrimp in June, over the 5,293 it sent in 2018: An increase of 31.3 percent. So far the country is up nearly 10 percent year-to-date over 2018.
Photo courtesy of Yana Vasileva/Shutterstock
