The United States imported 487,897 metric tons (MT) of shrimp in the first 10 months of this year, up on the 471,503 MT that that the market brought in during the corresponding period of 2015, according to the latest statistics from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries.
In recent months, India has overtaken Indonesia as the U.S. market’s No. 1 supplier, providing the country with 122,700 MT of shrimp in the January through October 2016 period, followed by Indonesia with 98,265 MT, and then Thailand, Ecuador and Vietnam with 63,338 MT, 62,447 MT and 50,236 MT respectively. Of these countries, only Ecuador didn’t supply more shrimp than it did in the first 10 months of 2015.
In 2015, the United States imported more than 586,000 MT of shrimp with a total value of around USD 5.5 billion (EUR 5.3 billion).
Meanwhile, in the first 11 months of 2016, Gulf Coast fishermen landed 88 million pounds (39,916 MT) of shrimp, down from 98.4 million pounds (44,633 MT) in the corresponding period of last year and the lowest level in the past five years.
The average ex-vessel price per pound of 15/20 sized headless shrimp in November was USD 6.44 (EUR 6.17) in the Eastern Gulf, USD 5.52 (EUR 5.29) in the Northern Gulf and USD 6.49 (EUR 6.22) in the Western Gulf. For 41/50 sizes, prices stood at USD 2.49 (EUR 2.39) in the Eastern Gulf, USD 2.86 (EUR 2.74) in the Northern Gulf and USD 2.85 (EUR 2.73) in the Western Gulf.
Americans’ per capita consumption of shrimp now amounts to 4 pounds (1.8 kg), making it the country’s favorite seafood ahead of salmon with 2.879 pounds (1.3 kg) per capita and tuna with 2.2 pounds (1 kg).
Close to 1.8 billion pounds (816,466 MT) of shrimp were supplied to the U.S. market last year, an increase of more than 60 million pounds (27,216 MT) compared to 2014, with 199.5 million pounds (90,492 MT) landed by the country’s fishing fleet (up from 180.2 million pounds in 2014) and close to 1.7 billion pounds (771,107 MT) imported (up from 1.6 billion pounds). The country also exported 67.3 million pounds (30,527 MT) of shrimp, an increase of more than 11 million pounds (4,990 MT).
