India saw its shipments of shrimp to China fall in January, when China officially announced the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, commonly referred to as coronavirus.
According to latest data released by India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the country exported 5,769 metric tons (MT) of shrimp to China in January, a decline of 5.4 percent year-on-year. Compared to December, the export volume dropped sharply, by 63.4 percent, from 15,762 MT.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said in a statement on 14 February that the spread of COVID-19 in China resulted in lower-than-normal consumption of shrimp during the Chinese New Year holidays, which took place during late January.
ICRA Limited, an investment information and credit rating agency in India, has also said that lower demand in China, along with mounting restrictions in logistics and port clearance as a result of health and safety measures, will negatively affect the supply chain.
In total, India exported 40,510 MT of shrimp in January, an increase of 6.4 percent year-on-year but contracting 35.6 percent from December.
The United States remained the biggest destination for shrimp from India in the month with the export volume of 18,145 MT, up 12.7 percent from a year earlier but decreasing 27.3 percent month-on-month.
In January, India earned USD 294.9 million (EUR 264.6 million) from shrimp exports, 6.3 percent higher year-on-year but sliding 36.7 percent from December 2019, the data showed.
The rapid outbreak of the coronavirus, with an origin reportedly tracked to a seafood market in Wuhan, has so far killed thousands of people, mainly in mainland China, with several cases confirmed in China and other countries, including in South Korea, Italia, Iran, the United States, Japan, Thailand, and Germany, South China Morning Post reported 5 March.
Photo by Chris Chase/SeafoodSource
