May 12, 2009

Ecuador's shrimp shipments abroad totalled 67.74 million pounds from January to March 2009 - one percent more than the 67.06 million pounds exported in the same period of 2008, the National Aquaculture Chamber (CNA) stated.

Some 25.45 million pounds of shrimp were shipped abroad in March alone, compared to 22.53 million pounds exported in March 2008.

According to a CNA report, 19.93 million pounds were exported in January, against 18.53 million pounds in January of last year.

February was the only month in which a dip in exports was registered - 22.36 million pounds were sold, against 26.01 million pounds in the second month of 2008.

However, in spite of the increase in volume, the value of the export fell 3.9 percent in the first quarter to US$141.8 million, compared to the same period of 2008. This drop reflects the fall registered in February, which exceeded the increases observed in the remaining two months of the quarter.

In March, export value revenues topped US$54.2 million, a boost of 6.7 percent in which shrimp sales generated US$50.8 million in the third month of 2008.

An increase in January was also observed compared to the same month in 2008, but a 17.8 percent reduction was observed in February's export values, which registered US$56 million, some US$10 million less than a year before.