U.S. shrimp imports continued to bounce back in August, totaling 123.9 million pounds, up 9.6 percent from August 2009, the biggest monthly increase so far this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced on Thursday.
After falling in 10 of 11 months, U.S. shrimp imports have increased in each of the last three months (June, July and August).
What’s more, U.S. shrimp imports through August were up over last year for the first time this year. In the first eight months of 2010, shrimp imports amounted to 731.6 million pounds, compared to 729.2 million pounds during the same period in 2009. Last year, shrimp imports reached 1.21 billion pounds.
Among the top six suppliers, the biggest increase in August came from China, which watched its shrimp exports to the U.S. market jump 25.1 percent, to 10.7 million pounds. Through August, U.S. shrimp imports from China were up 8.3 percent, to 59.4 million pounds.
Once again, the biggest drop came from Mexico, which saw its shrimp exports to the U.S. market plunge 97 percent, to a mere 146,000 pounds. Through July, U.S. shrimp imports from Mexico are down 33.3 percent, to 23.6 million pounds.
Wild Mexican shrimp has been subject to a U.S. import ban since in April, when the U.S. State Department cited a limited number of Mexican trawlers fishing in the Gulf of Mexico and Sea of Cortez for failing to use turtle excluder devices (TEDs) properly and inadvertently trapping sea turtles.
Though it’s been a tough year for Indonesia, the country’s shrimp exports to the U.S. market were up 18.6 percent, to 14 million pounds, in August. But in the first eight months of 2010, they were still down 17.4 percent, to 91.7 million pounds.
U.S. shrimp imports from Thailand, by far the No. 1 supplier to the U.S. market, were up 2.3 percent in August, to 43.1 million pounds, and were up 7.8 percent in the first eight months of 2010, to 257.6 million pounds.
Up-and-coming Malaysia continued its ascent, as the country’s shrimp exports to the U.S. market were up a whopping 139.3 percent in August, to 7.2 million pounds, and were up 43.2 percent in the first eight months of 2010, to 31.8 million pounds.
Typically, U.S. shrimp imports pick up in mid-summer before surging in late summer/early fall in time for the hectic winter holiday season.
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