The United States imported 428,952 metric tons (MT) of shrimp in the first nine months of this year, up on the 415,009 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 the last few months, India has overtaken Indonesia as the U.S. market’s No. 1 supplier, providing the country with 106,291 MT of shrimp during the January through September 2016 period, followed by Indonesia with 89,777 MT, and then Ecuador and Thailand with 55,602 MT and 54,905 MT respectively. Of these countries, only Ecuador didn’t supply more shrimp than it did in the first nine months of 2015.
Last year, the United States imported more than 586,000 MT of shrimp with a total value of around USD 5.5 billion (EUR 5.2 billion).
Meanwhile, in the first nine months of this year, Gulf Coast fishermen landed 67.3 million pounds (30,527 MT) of shrimp, down from 74.8 million pounds (33,929 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 September was USD 6.62 (EUR 6.23) in the Eastern Gulf, USD 4.62 (EUR 4.35) in the Northern Gulf and USD 6.19 (EUR 5.82) in the Western Gulf. For 41/50 sizes, prices stood at USD 2.40 (EUR 2.26) in the Eastern Gulf, USD 2.14 (EUR 2.01) in the Northern Gulf and USD 2.67 (EUR 2.51) in the Western Gulf.
NOAA’s latest annual report on consumption, “Fisheries of the United States,” finds the nation’s per capita consumption of shrimp amounted to 4 pounds (1.8 kg), making it the country’s favorite seafood. Overall, close to 1 pound (454g) of seafood was added to Americans’ diets in 2015. Salmon was behind shrimp in second place at 2.879 pounds (1.3 kg) per capita, while tuna was third 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).
