Shrimp export volume may slow down to 7-10% in 2019: Report

Indian shrimp export volume is expected to slow down to 7-10 per cent during this calender year after a four-year period of robust growth during CY2013-CY2017), according to a report.

During CY2013-17 shrimp exports grew at 17 per cent annually, ratings agency Icra said in a report.

This is mainly due to weakness in demand in the European and Japanese markets even as demand from China and USA are likely to grow, the report said.

EU and Japan contributed to 11.6 per cent and 6.5 per cent of total exports during the first 10 months of FY2018, respectively.

However, EU's and Japan's demand remained muted for the period 2013-17 calender year with EU's shrimp imports growing at an annual level of 3.3 per cent, and Japan's shrimp imports declining by 4.6 per cent.

According to the Icra report, Chinese shrimp demand will be driven by low domestic production growth coupled with growing domestic shrimp consumption.

This along with any potential trade agreements (under negotiation) between India and China is expected to augur well for the Indian shrimp exports.

"The country derives almost 87 per cent of its shrimp export demand from the US, EU, China, Vietnam and Japan. The healthy growth in the past four years was attributed to weak production dynamics in other major shrimp producing nations such as Thailand and Vietnam leading to strong uptick in demand for Indian shrimp," Icra vice president and sector head - Corporate Sector Ratings, Pavethra Ponniah said.

In terms of key export volumes, over the last four fiscals, USA has contributed to majority of India's shrimp exports accounting for 38 per cent of the total shipments during the first 10 months of CY2018.

This was driven by a steady increase in USA's demand for Indian shrimp due to the lower production in disease hit Thailand.

Exports to USA witnessed a robust annual growth of 25.2 per cent during CY2014-17, outpacing the country's demand growth of 7.1 per cent.

This was followed by strong exports growth to Vietnam and China, which overtook EU in CY2016 to become the second largest destination for Indian shrimp exports.

The same was due to healthy demand for shrimp in China and weak domestic production.