December 22, 2010

Indian seafood exports see large increase in 2010

Indian seafood exports have seen a large increase of 15.40% in rupee terms and 21.53% in dollar terms during the April to October period, on the strength of higher demand for shrimp from the US and Japan.

Better exports of squid to the EU markets have also contributed to the performance of the seafood export sector during this period.

The seafood exports from the country increased by 3.48% to reach 370,737 tonnes during the period. The higher value realisation is on account of the export of high-value items like shrimp. The export shrimp, which has a 50% share in the total value of seafood exports, saw a rise of 27.16% in rupee terms and 34.04% in dollar terms during the period.

Anwar Hashim, president of Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI), said that during the period there was better vannamie production and higher black tiger prawn landings. "There was better demand from the US and Japan for shrimp," he said.

The winter demand is also better this year. Hashim added that the US import of seafood from countries like India is higher after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In quantity terms, the increase in shrimp exports was around 8.13%.

Squid landings were much higher this year in Kollam, Kochi, and Mangalore ports. As a result, squid exports were higher this year with the quantity of exports showing a 69.16% rise. In rupee value, the upswing was 87.48% while in dollar terms it was 99.25%.

While the largest market for Indian seafood, namely the EU, showed a negative growth rate in volumes, the better demand this time came from the US and Japan. The volume of exports to the US increased by 44% while earnings in rupee value showed a 86.37% increase. The increase in dollar value was even higher at 96.31%.

Commenting on the better US imports, Abdul Kareem, managing director of Welcome Fisheries, said that he expected the US demand to continue for some time.