Ecuador’s shrimp sector posted a record-breaking export total of 506 million metric tons (MT) in 2018, but despite this success, the sector’s leaders are alarmed about tepid international prices.
According to statistics from Ecuador’s National Chamber of Aquaculture (CAN), the country’s shrimp production grew from 438 million MT in 2017 to 506 million MT in 2018, while revenues from its export increased from USD 3.03 billion (EUR 2.71 billion) in 2017 to USD 3.23 billion (EUR 2.89 billion) in 2018. This represents a 15.5 percent increase in volume but only a 6.4 percent increase in revenue.
CAN President José Antonio Camposano warned falling shrimp prices in international markets have cut revenue and forced the industry to put investment projects on hold.
In an interview with El Universo, Camposano said that the shrimp sector has attracted USD 400 million (EUR 357 million) in investments from 2013 to 2017, focusing on three aspects of the shrimp supply chain: The growing and feeding process, feed, and facilities for processing and export. This investment represents 1.3 percent of Ecuador’s total investment in that period.
Camposano said that the sector has seen steady investment since 2013, when shrimp producers had resources on hand and started a continued improvement process and reinvested their resources into their own production facilities and in improvement projects. Camposano said that there are several important investments underway, including two new processing plants being built by shrimp producer Santa Pricilia, and one each by Omarsa and Songa, as well as additional facilities to produce feed. Plus, there are smaller investments that together make up 57 percent of the sector’s total investment between 2014 and 2017.
But since the end of 2017, there have been several cases of projects being put on hold due to low international prices for shrimp. Camposano cited an example of a large economic group (which he did not name) that formed a new company and initially registered 900 hectares of production, but then downsized to 245 hectares due to the pricing situation.
“They decided to wait to see bit-by-bit the remaining 600 [hectares],” Camposano said.
Camposano said that low shrimp prices are an unavoidable issue of supply and demand, meaning there is little the domestic shrimp sector can do.
“I believe that international prices should be considered, not as an alert, but rather as a traffic light,” he said.
Nonetheless, there are factors where Ecuador’s government can help the industry better position itself, Camposano said. In particular, he called on help with improving trading relations with Asia by reducing tariffs. Asia has huge markets and the potential capacity to absorb any volume of shrimp Ecuador can generate, he said.
