U.S. shrimp imports in January 2020 showed no sign of falling off due to coronavirus-related fears.
The United States imported 143.1 million pounds, or 64,929 metric tons (MT) of shrimp in January, up from 119.9 million pounds (54,380 MT) in the same month a year ago.
India led the way with 62.2 million pounds (28,231 MT) of shrimp exports to the U.S., followed by Indonesia with 23.6 million pounds (10,689 MT), and by Ecuador with 11.3 million pounds (5,142 MT). Indonesia, Ecuador, and Argentina – ranked the eight-largest shrimp exporter to the U.S. in January 2020 - increased their year-over-year totals in January. Argentina exported 3.3 million pounds of shrimp, or 1,502 metric tons, in January 2020, up from 2.2 million pounds, or 1,005 MT, in January 2019.
Fourth-placed exporter Vietnam saw a slight dip in its total, down to just under 9 million pounds (4,073 MT). It reached 9.3 million pounds (4,209 MT) worth of shrimp exports to the U.S. in January 2019.
Fifth-placed Thailand saw the biggest drop-off, down to 6.2 million pounds (2,814 MT), off from 8.2 million pounds (3,727 MT) in January 2019.
Sixth-placed Mexico also experienced a lag in its shrimp exports to the U.S., shipping 5.5 million pounds (2,472 MT) in January 2020, down from just under 6 million pounds (2,711 MT) in January 2019.
Seventh-ranked China saw its long decline as a shrimp exporter to the U.S. continue, sending 3.2 million pounds (1,433 MT) of shrimp to the U.S. in January, down from 3.8 million (1,715 MT) a year ago.
Closing out the rankings in ninth place was Peru, with just over 1 million pounds (471 MT) and Venezuela in tenth place, with 774,000 pounds, or 351 MT of shrimp exports to the U.S.
Photo courtesy of ESB Professional/Shutterstock
