India’s year-to-date shrimp exports through May 2023 were down 13 percent by value, with a huge drop in earnings from its value-added exports.
Between January and May 2023, Indian shrimp exports were valued at USD 1.8 billion (EUR 1.6 billion), with year-on-year valuations dropping 23 percent in April and 22 percent in May.
By volume, India’s shrimp export total was “less severe than anticipated,” according to Shrimp Insights Founder Willem van del Pijl.
“India’s shrimp export volume from January-May 2023 did not drop as far as expected. On the contrary, with 148,267 MT, the first quarter of 2023 recorded a 12 percent higher export volume than in 2022,” he said in a recent blog post.
Volumes dropped 14 percent in April and 8 percent in May.
“Based on broodstock import numbers and talk from India about the reduced stocking for 2023’s first crop, I expected exports in May to drop deeper. However, [it] was less severe than I anticipated,” van der Pijl said. “This suggests that the first crop was larger than expected or that in May Indian exporters had still been selling stock from last year.”
India’s year-to-date exports, at 257,793 MT through May 2023, was level with 2022’s figure. But its vannamei shrimp exports were actually up 4 percent by volume, meaning the bulk of the drop was accounted for by value-added products – down 26 percent by volume.
In terms of export markets, with a drop of 8 percent of the export volume to that market, the U.S. saw its share of India’s exports fall to 44 percent. Exports to China increased a couple of hundred metric tons, but China’s share of India’s exports of this product dropped by 1 percent. Exports to the E.U. and other Asian markets grew by 11 percent and 17 percent. Van der Pjil attributed that drop-off to falling demand from the U.S. retail sector.
India’s share of the U.S. market has dropped from 84 percent to 77 percent in 2023, though it has increased its E.U. market share by 33 percent.
One bright spot for India has been its black tiger shrimp exports, which jumped 158 percent year-over-year, from 4,000 MT through May 2022 to 10,586 MT year-to-date through May 2023. China and other Asian countries have drastically ramped up their imports of monodon shrimp over the pasty, according to van der Pijl.
“According to sources in India, the volume of P. monodon will continue to grow significantly over the next couple of months, with peak harvests expected between August and early October,” van der Pijl said. “Broodstock import and production numbers of Vaishnavi Aquatech and Unima support this claim. Interestingly, sources mention that while last year India’s exporters sold P. monodon at similar prices as its Bangladeshi competitors, this year, it seems that Indian exporters have managed to maintain a higher price level.”
Photo courtesy of Nekkanti Sea Foods
