Despite absorbing the full force of the COVID-19 crisis in April, the United States continued to import shrimp, with its April total up year-over-year and nearly even with March’s figure.
According to the latest figures from NOAA, the U.S. imported 113.8 million pounds, or 51,634 metric tons (MT) of shrimp in April, up from 107.1 million pounds (48,613 MT) in April 2019 and very similar to the 114.1 million pounds, or 51,761 metric tons (MT) of shrimp in March.
Thus far in 2020, the United States has imported 484.4 million pounds (219,791 MT) of shrimp, up 11.5 percent from January through April in 2019, when the U.S. imported 428.9 million pounds, or 219,791 MT.
India, and to a lesser extent Indonesia and Ecuador, have taken over the bulk of the U.S. market, serving as the origin of 81.3 percent of all U.S. imports. India itself exported 49 million pounds, or 22,229 MT of shrimp to the U.S. in April 2020, accounting for 43.1 percent of the U.S. total. India’s figure was up from 39.1 million pounds (17,749 MT) it exported to the U.S. in April 2019.
Indonesia also ramped up its shrimp exports to the U.S. in April, logging a 30.4 million-pound (13,804 MT) total, up from 23 million pounds (9,544 MT) in April 2019.
Ecuador saw its year-over-year figure drop in April, from 19 million pounds (8,606 MT) in April 2019 to 13.1 million pounds (5,950 MT) in April 2020.
Of the other top 10 shrimp exporters to the U.S., Vietnam, Thailand, Mexico, China, Peru, and Venezuela all recorded year-over-year drops in April. Besides India and Indonesia, only Argentina achieved a higher year-over-year total for the month, moving from 1.9 million pounds (842 MT) to 2.2 million pounds (990 MT).
Mexico’s exports plunged more than 73 percent year-over-year, falling from 4.6 million pounds (2,089 MT) in April 2019 to 1.2 million pounds (560 MT) in April 2020.
Photo courtesy of Sanatana/Shutterstock
