Marine exports drop 20 per cent

The marine product exports dropped by 19.64 per cent in the April-October period of the current financial year. The country shipped 268,254 tonnes of seafood compared with 333,834 tonnes in the same period in last year.

The earnings from exports dropped 14.21 per cent to Rs 4,280 crore against Rs 4,990.44 crore in 2006-07. However, in dollar terms, the earnings remained stagnant.

The country's total exports in 2006-07 was 612,641 tonnes valued at Rs 8363.53 crore. In terms of volume, China is the country's largest market, accounting for 33.22 per cent of the total exports. In value terms, EU is the largest importer, contributing 24.44 per cent of the country's exports earnings.

During 2006-07, the exports to the US dropped 21.60 per cent to 43,851 tonnes against 55,817 tonnes in the previous year. Exports earnings declined to Rs 1347.80 crore, down 17.78 per cent, against Rs 1639.24 crore.

The number of exporters to the US market has also dropped to 80 from 107 in 2005-06. This was mainly because of the anti-dumping duty and stringent quality norms.