July 15, 2004

Indonesia To Become Biggest Shrimp Exporter To US

Indonesia is believed to become the biggest shrimp exporter to the US market soon, as a result of the shrimp battle worth USD 2.4 billion.

In May, total shrimp exported into the US declined sharply, the second consecutive declining month due to reactions from main exporters against US Department of Commerce (DOC)'s future duty decision.

US shrimp imports fell by 26%, and 25% in terms of value. However, shrimp imports still rose by 36% for the 1st quarter, and 21.3% for the first 5 months. With 9.4 million pounds of shrimp exported to US, which is a year-on-year increase of 92%, Indonesia has surpassed other major rivals such as Thailand, China, and Vietnam to become the biggest supplier for  the US market. During the first 5 months of 2004, export volume of shrimp increased by 40%, or 2/3 of the volume for 2003.

Recently, with regards to the flood of shrimp imports for re-exportation from Indonesia, the local authorities has proposed a duty of 40% on countries including Thailand, China and Vietnam. While such countries are at a disadvantage, Indonesia and other shrimp exporters like Bangladesh, Honduras and Venezuela are benefiting from exporting to the major market United States.