Mounting shipping and fuel costs and growing demand are expected to push global shrimp prices up 7 percent to an average of USD 15.00 (EUR 13.08) per kilogram in 2022, according to a new report from market research company IndexBox.
The prediction, based off the World Bank’s October forecast, means prices will rise from the 2021 average shrimp price of USD 12.70 (EUR 11.06) per kilogram, which was itself 10 percent higher than the average price in 2020, according to IndexBox’s report, “World - Frozen Crustaceans - Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends And Insights,”
Through the third quarter of 2021, the cost of shipping a 20-foot container from Asia to North America had risen by USD 13,000 (EUR 11,300), up 500 percent, and the cost of sending a 40-foot container on the same route had ballooned by USD 20,000 (EUR 17,400) – up 500 to 700 percent, respectively – due to shortages of frozen food containers, according to the FAO.
Despite the higher shipping prices, demand for shrimp continued to rise in the U.S. and Europe, primarily due to a bounceback in the hotel, retail, and catering sector, IndexBox reported. The first half of 2021 saw record demand from the E.U., up 16 percent over the same period of 2020, and the U.K. and Russia also experienced a spike in demand. The United States imported 30 percent more shrimp in the first half of 2021 year-over-year at 404,000 metric tons (MT) of shrimp worth USD 3.4 billion (EUR 3 billion).
Ecuador was the world’s top shrimp exporter in 2020, with 692,000 MT of exports, while India was second with 580,000 MT in exports, with those two countries producing 39 percent of all shrimp exports globally by volume. Vietnam took a 12 percent share with 383,000 MT, Indonesia had a 7.3 percent share, and China had a 4.9 percent share. Following them in share by volume were Thailand (144,000 MT), Argentina (129,000 MT), Greenland (118,000 MT), Denmark (95,000 MT), the Netherlands (85,000 MT), and Canada (52,000 MT) – which combined accounted for 19 percent of global shrimp exports by volume.
Globally, 3.3 million MT of shrimp were exported in 2020, down 3.6 percent from 2019, worth an estimated total value of USD 24.5 billion (EUR 21.4 billion).
By value, the top gainers were India at USD 4.3 billion (EUR 3.8 billion), Ecuador at USD 3.9 billion (EUR 3.4 billion), and Vietnam at USD 3.5 billion (EUR 3.1 billion), cumulatively accounting for 48 percent of the world’s shrimp export value in 2020. Indonesia, China, Thailand, the Netherlands, Argentina, Greenland, Denmark, and Canada together accounted for 34 percent of market share by volume. Indexbox noted Indonesia saw the highest growth rate in its shrimp-export value with an 18.6 percent year-over-year gain in 2020.
The largest shrimp-import markets were the U.S. at 749,000 MT and China at 609,000 MT, together accounting for 44 percent of the total international trade in shrimp. Japan accounted for 212,000 MT of imports – 6.8 percent of all global shrimp exports – followed by Spain (165,000 MT), France (114,000 MT), South Korea (98,000 MT), Denmark (98,000 MT), the Netherlands (85,000 MT), the U.K. (77,000 MT), Italy (73,000 MT), Germany (71,000 MT), Russia (57,000 MT), and Canada (50,000 MT).
Overall shrimp exports to the U.S. were worth USD 6.7 billion (EUR 5.8 billion) in 2020, followed by China at USD 3.5 billion (EUR 3.05 billion), and Japan USD 2.1 billion (EUR 1.83 billion), together accounting for 52 percent of all shrimp imports. Spain, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, Denmark, Italy, Canada, and Russia together accounted for 29 of the global shrimp-export market.
Photo courtesy of Ai Han/Shutterstock
