Charts contributed by Maria Feijoo
Big deliveries from Ecuador and Indonesia kept the US stocked full of imported shrimp during the month of June in spite of another weak month by India, the latest trade data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) show.
The US imported 51,042 metric tons of shrimp worth $422.6 million in June, 3% less in volume and 2% less in value than in June 2019, Undercurrent News found when it reviewed the NOAA data. Similarly, the price changed little in June, as shrimp garnered an average $8.30 per kilogram, a difference of only 1% from the $8.18/kg paid in June 2019 and down just 1% from the $8.41/kg paid in May.
All of that may sound like a ho-hum performance by June, but it was still a major improvement over May 2020, when the US showed the first signs of its impact from the coronavirus pandemic, importing just 37,961t worth $319.0m – 29% less volume and 28% less value than imported in May 2019.
In fact, the volume was so low in May that it set a seven-year record, plummeting almost to the 33,940t of shrimp worth $321.6m imported by the US in June 2013.
Though June may have done little but hold ground, the US shrimp import totals for the first half of 2020 still look a bit more positive than the first six months of 2019. At the halfway point of this year, the US had imported 309,317t of shrimp worth $2.6 billion, a 3% increase in volume and 4% increase in value over the first six months of 2019, NOAA's data showed.
India drop could last for months
Just as the month before, the US saw a much smaller amount of shrimp in June from India, normally its biggest source of shrimp. It took just 11,821t of shrimp worth $102.9m, a 43% drop in volume and a 37% drop in value year on year. India's price, which helps to drive the market, was at $8.71/kg, 9% better than in June 2019.
The continued drop in volume from India was no surprise to Jeff Sedacca, CEO of the Sunnyvale Seafood Company, in Union City, California, the US sales division of China’s giant Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products, who advised Undercurrent that such a decline in exports could be expected from India for at least two months, given the disruptions there and the amount of time it takes to deliver product.
As reported earlier, India's monthly shrimp exports fell by a third in April compared with the same month in 2019. India exported $204m worth of shrimp, 31% less than in the same month last year, and the lowest monthly value in April in four years.
The reduction in India might show up for at least another two months and production volume will be down by an overall 20% to 30% in 2020, sources have suggested to Undercurrent. However, Jim Gulkin, CEO of frozen seafood supplier Siam Canadian Group, said he expects India to have improved production starting by late August into September.
India -- at the half-year point -- supplied the US with 111,543t of shrimp worth $955.9m, 4% less volume but less than a percent more value than the first six months of 2019, NOAA data showed.
Ecuador's US surge happened before problems in China
Meanwhile, compensating for the disappearance of Indian shrimp in the US was Ecuador.
Undercurrent earlier reported how Ecuadorian shrimp sellers have been cozying up to the US, their second-largest buyer, since at least July 10 when they began losing their largest buyer, China. That’s when Chinese customs authorities announced that they had suspended the export licenses of three companies that reportedly account for a quarter of all the Ecuadorian shrimp exported to China -- Industrial Pesquera Santa Priscila, Empacadora Del Pacifico Sociedad Anonima Edpacif and Empacreci -- after detecting evidence that five boxes that arrived in China a week earlier had traces of coronavirus on outer packaging.
But NOAA data shows Ecuador was already beefing up its sales to the US a month earlier, in June. The US took 10,750t of shrimp worth $64.6m from Ecuador in June, increases of 55% in volume and 34% in value over June 2019.
That’s the most shrimp has sent the US since July 2014 when it exported 10,392t of shrimp worth $91.8m to the US, based on a review of NOAA data.
Don't look for the trend to continue all year, however. Many shrimp farms in Ecuador recently have been forced to close down or halt their activities due to the COVID-19 crisis, as production costs currently outweigh the benefits, several sources from the country's shrimp sector told Undercurrent.
Also helping to make up the gap was Indonesia, which spent its second straight month in the throne chair as the US’ largest source of shrimp in June. The US took 14,240t of shrimp worth $118.2m, a 29% increase in volume and 24% increase in value compared to June 2019.
Indonesia, during the first six months of 2020, sent the US 77,405t of shrimp worth $666.0m, a 25% increase in volume and 27% increase in value.
China, meanwhile, has continued to see its fortunes as a source of shrimp for the US market decline since the trade war started by president Donald Trump in July 2018 and the subsequent 25% tariffs. It sent the US just 1,079t of shrimp worth $5.6m in June 2020, down 42% in volume and 41% less in value from June 2019.
Six months into the year, China has sent the US 5,712t of shrimp worth $29.0, reductions of 40% in volume and 46% in value respectively over the first six months of 2019.
Mexico, meanwhile, was one of at least six countries to see a year-on-year growth in the amount of shrimp it sent the US in June. The US took in 1,025t of shrimp from Mexico worth $9.5m, a 19% boost in volume but a 4% decrease in value compared to June 2019. The drop in value likely relates to a dramatic 19% drop in price, from $11.41/kg in June 2019 to $9.23/kg in June 2020.
Mexico at the halfway point is tracking well behind the first six months of 2019, sending the US 9,241t of shrimp worth $108.3m, 14% less in volume and 13% less in value than the first six months of 2019.
Also of interest in the latest NOAA trade update might be the amount of red shrimp imported by the US from Argentina. Argentina sent the US 1,093t worth $12.6m, a 26% increase in volume and 34% in increase in value from June 2019. Argentina, on July 17, ended a lengthy standoff between harvesters and processors, meaning major trawlers will now be racing to capture Argentina's prized red shrimp before the fishery closes for the spawning season mid-October.
Vietnam is also worth taking a closer look at. The US's fourth leading source of shrimp in June gave it 4,897t worth $52.3m, an 18% increase in volume and 23% increase in value. The Southeast Asian nation is tracking very close to its 2019 performance, having sent the US 21,589t of shrimp worth $225.8m, just 2% more in volume and value than the first six months of last year.
The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers predicted in July that its total shrimp export volumes would increase in the second half as other countries struggled to produce due to lockdowns and health restrictions, as reported by Undercurrent.
August 06, 2020 at 01:07AM
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Surges from Ecuador, Indonesia limited US shrimp import market's June swoon - Undercurrent News
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