Lack of shrimp across the globe, weak rupee boost Indian exports

Jayarama Emani | The Dollar Business Falling shrimp production in some of the major exporting nations and a weak rupee have helped India’s shrimp exports to the United States and the European Union (EU). India’s shrimp export to the United States for the January-March quarter have registered a 15.27 per cent increase to 24,188 tonnes over corresponding period last year’s 20,983 tonnes, aided by a weak rupee. While some sources on conditions of anonymity have indicated that the devaluation of the Indian rupee had helped push shrimp exports to the US last year, other sources said that falling shrimp production in major producing countries like Thailand and Vietnam is the primary reason for increase in the exports. Said one source on conditions of anonymity, “Thailand’s annual shrimp production capacity has dropped from six lakh tonnes to two lakh tonnes, whereas India’s capacity has increased from three lakh tonnes to 5 lakh tonnes.” Another source said, “China which is one of the largest producers of seafood is importing shrimps to meet the domestic demand. While China is importing shrimp for domestic consumption, countries like Vietnam and Indonesia are importing Indian shrimp for processing and exporting it to US.” Indian exporters shipped 99,566 tonnes of shrimp to the US, worth $1,269 million, between January and November 2014. Indonesia was in the second place during the same 11 months with 94,524 tonnes, whereas Ecuador exported 85,184 tonnes to the US and was ranked third. India exports over 75,000 metric tonnes of shrimp to the EU and is the largest supplier of shrimp from non-European countries to the EU. India is also one of the largest suppliers of squid and cuttlefish to Europe, especially to Spain and Italy. The Indian frozen shrimp export market is expected to reach nearly $17 billion by 2017.    

May 30, 2015 | 7:50 pm IST.