February 22, 2012

 

India's seafood exports grow by 19%

 

 

India's marine product exports, including shrimps, grow by 1.48% in volume and 18.72% in US dollar terms on-year during the April-December 2011 period.

 

Exports to Southeast Asia, Japan and the US all improved in quantity and value.

 

Exports reached 621,577 tonnes worth INR121.9 billion (US$2.62 billion) versus 612,505 tonnes worth INR100.18 billion (US$2.21 billion) in the same period of the previous year.

 

Frozen shrimp remained the main export item, accounting for 51.35% of the total US dollar earnings, and rose by 17.67%. Exports of vannamei exploded by 272% in quantity and 318% in US dollar terms.

 

Exports of frozen shrimp to the US surged by 38.34% in quantity and 41.07% in US dollar terms, and to Japan by 10.15% in volume and 18.00% in US dollar terms.

 

Fish, the second-most valuable export item, made up about 39.43% in quantity and 19.14% in US dollar earnings. Frozen fish exports jumped by 6.40% in quantity and 15.96% in US dollar earnings.

 

Frozen squid and cuttlefish exports fell in quantity but rose in value. Frozen cuttlefish dropped by 12.30% in quantity and climbed by 14.97% in US dollar realisation.

 

Frozen squid exports dropped by 12.21% in quantity and climbed by 18.28% in US dollar realisation. Dried item exports declined by 39.11% in quantity and 56.53% in US dollar value.

 

The exports of chilled items improved in value but decreased in volume. Live item exports fell both in value and volume.

 

For the first time, Southeast Asia became the largest market with a share of 25.75% in US dollar realisation and 39.58% in quantity. Exports grew by 43.19% in quantity and 95.99R in US dollar realisation.

 

The European Union (EU) slipped to the second spot with a share of 22.02%, followed by the US at 19.17%, Japan at 14.09% and China at 7.06%. Exports to EU surged by 1.33% in US dollar realisation but fell in quantity by 13.66%. 

 

Exports to the US grew by 31.33% in quantity and 39.05% in US dollar realisation. Japan also showed growth of 19.25% in quantity and 18.12% in US dollar realisation.

 

Seafood exports for 2011-2012 may increase by nearly 20% in US dollar terms compared to 2010-11 from US$2.8 billion to US$3.5 billion, according to the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA).

 

The rupee's depreciation against the dollar led to higher earnings.