Ecuador and Indonesia made up for a massive fall-off in shrimp exports from India to the United States, and U.S. shrimp imports rebounded from May, when they fell 22.3 percent from April’s total.
The United States imported 112.3 million pounds, or 50,944 metric tons (MT) in June, up from 88.4 million pounds, or 37,814 metric tons MT, in May. This year’s June figure was down slightly from the 115.7 million pounds, or 52475 MT, recorded in June 2019. At 308,544 MT, the country’s imports from January through June are still up over 2019’s total of 300,568 MT, according to the latest figures from NOAA.
India suffered another terrible month, suffering a 42.5 percent year-on-year drop in shrimp exports to the U.S. between June 2019 and June 2020. India exported 26.1 million pounds (11,821 MT) of shrimp to the U.S. in June 2020, while in the same month last year, it totaled 45.3 million pounds (20,559 MT). In May, India experienced a 50 percent drop in its shipments, with its monthly total reaching 19 million pounds (8,600 MT), down from 49 million pounds, or 22,229 MT, of shrimp to the U.S. in April 2020.
India was put under lockdown beginning in late March by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a means of preventing the spread of the coronavirus, and sector experts have told SeafoodSource many farmers in India have been reluctant to stock ponds due to the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. However, India’s shrimp sector appears to be bouncing back, as it earned more value from its exports in June compared with May, according recently released data from India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Taking up the slack was Indonesia, which boosted its shrimp exports to the U.S. to 31.4 million pounds (14,240 MT), up from 24.4 million pounds (11,073 MT) in June 2019 and bettering its May total of 28.7 million pounds (13,006 MT).
Ecuador, the number-three shrimp supplier to the U.S., shipped 23.7 million pounds (10,750 MT) to the U.S. in June, up from 15.3 million pounds in June 2019 and far above the 12.7 million pounds (5,773 MT) of shrimp it sent to the U.S. in May 2020.
Vietnam, Thailand, Argentina, China, Mexico, Peru, and Saudi Arabia rounded out the list of the top 10 shrimp-exporting nations to the U.S., with many of them reporting higher figures compared to May 2020.
Vietnam exported 10.7 million pounds (4,864 MT) of shrimp to the U.S., jumping up 46.6 percent from the 7.3 million pounds (3,316 MT) of shrimp to the U.S. in May, and also up from the 9.1 million pounds (4,130 MT) of shrimp sent in June 2019.
Thailand sent 7.5 million pounds (3,422 MT) of shrimp in June 2020, up 27.1 percent from the 5.9 million pounds (2,654 MT) it shipped to the U.S. in May 2020, and up 12.8 percent from the 6.7 million pounds (3,034 MT) it shipped to the U.S. in June 2019.
Argentina, a supplier of the increasingly popular Argentine red shrimp, shipped 2.4 million pounds (1,093 MT), up from the 1.9 million pounds (866 MT) it sent to the U.S. in June 2019, but down from the 2.7 million pounds (1,211 MT) in May 2020.
China’s 2.4 million pounds (1,079 MT) of shrimp sent to the U.S. in June 2020 nearly matched the 1,069 MT it sent in May 2020, but was down from June 2019, when it shipped 4.1 million pounds (1,861 MT) of shrimp to the United States.
Mexico’s shrimp exports to the U.S. increased from 2.1 million pounds (929 MT) in May 2020 to 2.3 million pounds (1,025 MT) in June 2020. That total was also up from the 1.9 million pounds (863 MT) Mexico sent to the U.S. in June 2019.
Peru sent 2.2 million pounds of shrimp to the U.S. (987 MT) in June 2020, up a whopping 132.6 percent from the 946,000 pounds (819 MT) it sent in May 2020, and also up from the 1.5 million pounds (668 MT) it shipped in June 2019.
Saudi Arabia sent 752,000 pounds (341 MT) of shrimp to the United States in June 2020.
Photo courtesy of golfza.357/Shutterstock
