The United States imported 603,591 metric tons (MT) of shrimp last year, up on the 585,826 MT that that the market brought in during 2015, according to the latest statistics from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries.
During the course of 2016, India overtook Indonesia as the U.S. market’s No. 1 supplier, providing the country with 153,984 MT of shrimp in the 12-month period (up from 135,352 MT in 2015), followed by Indonesia with 117,095 MT, and then Thailand, Ecuador and Vietnam with 81,151 MT, 73,128 MT and 63,413 MT respectively. Of these countries, only Ecuador didn’t supply more shrimp than it did in 2015.
Meanwhile, Gulf Coast fishermen landed 93.9 million pounds (42,592 MT) of shrimp last year, down from 106.9 million pounds (48,489 MT) in 2015 and the lowest level in the past five years.
The average ex-vessel price per pound of 15/20 sized headless shrimp in December was USD 6.04 (EUR 5.69) in the Eastern Gulf, USD 5.76 (EUR 5.43) in the Northern Gulf and USD 5.96 (EUR 5.62) in the Western Gulf. For 41/50 sizes, prices stood at USD 2.60 (EUR 2.45) in the Eastern Gulf, USD 2.57 (EUR 2.42) in the Northern Gulf and USD 3.15 (EUR 2.97) 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).
While the total U.S. supply figures for 2016 are not yet available, around 1.8 billion pounds (816,466 MT) of shrimp was supplied to the U.S. market in 2015, 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).
