The United States imported 263,895 metric tons (MT) of shrimp in the first six months of this year, down slightly on the 267,446 MT that that the market brought in during the corresponding period of 2015, according to the latest statistics from NOAA Fisheries.
Indonesia was the U.S. market’s No. 1 supplier during H1 2016 with 58,454 MT, followed closely by India with 53,970 MT, and then Ecuador and Thailand with 37,132 MT and 33,232 MT respectively. Of these countries, only Thailand supplied more shrimp than it did in the first six months of 2015.
In terms of product formats, it’s estimated that in H1 2016 the U.S. market imported 2,808 MT of shell-on coldwater shrimp, 126 MT of peeled coldwater shrimp, 97,781 MT of shell-on warmwater shrimp and 109,133 MT of warmwater peeled shrimp. It also imported 20,574 MT of breaded shrimp and 32,736 MT of peeled preparations.
In 2015, the United States imported more than 586,000 MT of shrimp with a total value of around USD 5.5 billion (EUR 4.9 billion).
Meanwhile, in the first six months of this year, U.S. fishermen landed almost 35.2 million pounds of shrimp into the domestic market, up from 29.9 million pounds in H1 2015.
The average ex-vessel price per pound of 15/20 sized headless shrimp in June was USD 5.75 (EUR 5.14) in the Eastern Gulf, USD 4.60 (EUR 4.12) in the Northern Gulf and USD 4.38 (EUR 3.92) in the Western Gulf. For 41/50 sizes, prices stood at USD 1.68 (EUR 1.50) in the Eastern Gulf, USD 1.43 (EUR 1.28) in the Northern Gulf and USD 1.21 (EUR 1.08) in the Western Gulf.
