May 30, 2012

India's seafood product exports up 20%

On the back of increased shipments to South East Asia, Japan and the US, India's marine product exports are estimated to have increased by 20% to US$3.42 billion in the last fiscal.

The country had shipped marine products worth US$2.85 billion in 2010-11 financial year.

"In 2011-12 fiscal we estimate the growth in export earnings to rise by more than 20% as there has been good demand from South East Asian countries, besides Japan, the US and the EU," a senior Agriculture Ministry official said.

Export of frozen shrimps and fish have registered a positive growth both in quantity and value. The shipments of frozen squids and cuttlefish have also witnessed a rise in value terms, the official added.

"The depreciation in the value of Indian rupee against the US Dollar has also helped in the increase in value of marine exports from the country," the official noted.

In the April-December period of the last financial year, India's marine food exports rose by almost 19% to US$2.62 billion from US$2.21 billion in the same period of the 2010-11 fiscal.

In terms of quantity, seafood exports rose by 1.48% to 6.21 lakh tonnes in April-December of 2011-12 from 6.12 lakh tonnes in the same period of the previous fiscal.

Marine exports in rupee terms rose by about 22% to INR12,190.93 crore (US$2.17 billion) in the first three quarters of the last fiscal from INR10,018.47 crore (US$1.8 billion) in the same period of the 2010-11 fiscal.

In terms of unit value, marine exports rose by 17% to US$4.23 per kilogramme as compared to US$3.61 per kilogramme in the same period.

India's marine exports include black tiger shrimps, fresh water prawn shrimps, frozen versatile fish, frozen skip jack and frozen squid and the consignments are mostly from Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.