Shrimp exports rise 90% to Rs 14,364 cr

Whopping increase in shrimp exports this fiscal; export earnings shoot up 90%

A big increase in the rupee value of exports of shrimps was recorded during April-December in the current financial year. Earnings increased 90 per cent to Rs 14,364 crore. These were Rs 7,565 crore a year ago. The share of shrimps in total seafood exports’ earnings scaled to 65 per cent. This was 51 per cent a year ago. The overall exports of shrimps during the period were 229,010 tonnes, worth $2,396 million. Exports had a growth of 27.5 per cent in quantity and 70 per cent in dollar terms on a year ago. The unit value realisation increased 34 per cent, according to the Marine Products Export Development Authority.

According to Anwar Hashim, an exporter and former president of Seafood Exporters Association of India, this performance was due to two major factors: A serious fall in the production and exports from southeast Asia and the lowering of   countervailing duty  on Indian shrimp in the US. Production in southeast Asia had been affected due to the spread of a disease called Early Mortality Syndrome. Supply from Thailand, world's second-largest producer, dropped 50 per cent from the normal production of 500,000 tonnes a year. Other leading producers like Vietnam and Malaysia had been hit, too.

Processing plants in east Asia had to depend on Indian exports to meet their commitments with Europe and the US. Vietnam, China and Taiwan imported more from India the last year, mainly for re-export. The rise in local demand in South Korea also heated global prices, he said.  

The US was the largest market for Indian shrimps in dollar terms. It imported 51 per cent of the exports.  This was followed by 16 per cent to southeast Asia, 16 per cent to the European Union (EU) and five per cent to Japan.

EMS also caused prices to increase across the world.     Average global prices increased to $9-10/kg (for the 20-30 count, an export grade). These were $7-7.5 earlier.
 
CVD withdrawal, a boon to India
The US had reduced CVD to zero in September. It had imposed a CVD of 5.85 per cent on imports from India. This had affected exports in the first quarter of 2013-14 .

The contribution of cultured shrimp to total shrimp exports was 78 per cent. Their exports showed a growth of 32.5 per cent in quantity and 84 per cent in dollar terms, on a year ago. Vannamei shrimp exports grew to 134,372 tonnes from 69,565 tonnes  and to $1,473.9 million from 541 million compared to a year ago, MPEDA data said.