U.S. shrimp imports topped 144 million pounds in October, up 10.1 percent from October 2007, the biggest monthly increase so far this year, according to figures the National Marine Fisheries Service released this week.
That brings the year-to-date shrimp import total to more than 1 billion pounds, compared to just over 995 million pounds during the same 10-month period last year.
Shrimp imports are on pace to exceed last year’s 1.23-billion-pound total, which was down about 73 million pounds from the previous year; 2007 marked the first time in a number of years that shrimp imports had dropped.
Thailand remains the No. 1 U.S. shrimp supplier, exporting 322.6 million pounds through October, down 4.6 percent from a year ago. Shrimp imports from Ecuador were down 6.8 percent, to 103.6 million pounds.
Indonesia is picking up the slack, shipping 164.2 million pounds of shrimp to the United States through October, up a staggering 51.3 percent from a year ago.
Shrimp imports from China and Vietnam were up 7.2 percent and 17.4 percent, to 88.7 million and 81.5 million pounds, respectively.
