The Indian shrimp industry is hoping for a better 2021 despite the current uncertainty, rampant disease, and a drop in exports, which are now causing major disruption in profitability and productivity within the market, said Balasubramaniam V., general secretary of the Prawn Farmers Federation of India, at Aqua Expo Guayaquil on Nov. 26.
"Not knowing what will happen within the market worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic or what the causative agents of current shrimp diseases in India are, for example, is quite frustrating," he said.
"What will happen in 2021 will inevitably be marked by all of this. The mood within the industry is quite bleak as 2020 has also been a tough year for us. Still, we hope that further government intervention to recover from the disruption caused by the pandemic in the market and better disease management protocols will help improve our situation here in India during the next year."
The combination of enterocytozoon hepatopenaei, or EHP, and white feces disease has been a devastating cocktail for South Asian shrimp farmers this year, sharply reducing growth rates and doubling the feed conversion ratio, Undercurrent News previously reported.
"These two diseases, along with the white spot syndrome virus and the COVID-19 pandemic, have caused reductions in profitability and productivity, shrimp stocking densities, animal survival, and a drop of 50% in the farm success rate," Balasubramaniam also explained during his presentation.
Also, exports to China have dropped by 40% year-on-year, resulting in major economic losses for the industry, he explained.
"The reduction in shrimp imports from China created a glut in the international market and would probably mean a loss of between $1.2 billion and $1.3bn for India's sector in 2020," Balasubramaniam said.
A price drop of between 30% and 40% during the first lockdown in March and April, followed by a big shortage of labor in processing factories across the country and a shortage of broodstock in May, has also hit the sector hard, he said.
"All of this has resulted in a 25% drop in Indian shrimp production in 2020, if not more, but we will have to wait until the final figures come out to see how the year closes and the real magnitude of the damage caused by all these events," he said.
"Conversely, Indian shrimp prices have been quite strong since September across all regions, and the US demanded more shrimp this year than in 2019, which are very positive aspects that I believe will also usher in the coming year."
The price rebound for Indian vannamei shrimp shows no sign of stopping, with modest farmgate price increases reported across all sizes, as Undercurrent also recently reported.
The price for larger, 30-count shrimp in the primary farming state of Andhra Pradesh was INR 500 ($6.79) per kilogram in week 48, the highest price point achieved since the summer of 2017.
According to data published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data, the US has imported some 192,338 metric tons of shrimp from India worth $1.66bn this year -- up 10% in volume and a slight 1% in value year-on-year, as the second chart below -- which is available in Undercurrent's trade flows data page -- shows.
Dutch lender Rabobank, on the other hand, was recently more optimistic on its views for India, and the shrimp sector globally, suggesting a recent recovery in Chinese orders, and India's faster-than-expected recovery might lead to 2020 global shrimp production dropping less than previously forecasted.
December 08, 2020 at 04:57PM
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Indian shrimp industry expects better 2021 despite headwinds - Undercurrent News
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