The report analyses the market situation until June 2017

Farmed shrimp supplies were low during the first half of 2017, which was in balance with low to moderate demand in the traditional and emerging markets. The main harvesting season in Asia ended in October. Prices were up due to steady imports from the United States of America and China. Further price increases will depend on the demand pattern in the major markets, while the supply will be seasonally low in Asia until March/April 2018.

Supply

China remained the largest producer of cultured shrimp but with lower production compared with 2016 due to persistent disease issues. The majority of China's harvest enters the domestic market.
India is the world's second largest producer of farmed shrimp but in contrast to China, its shrimp industry is largely export-oriented. Production has been good in 2017, and is expected to be higher than 2016 due to the growing number of farming sites. However, sporadic disease occurrence (early mortality, stagnant growth, etc.) was reported in many farming areas, forcing farmers to harvest early or partially. The growth in production was mirrored by increased exports (+7%) during the first half of 2017 compared with the same time period in 2016.
Ex-farm prices in India increased during August–September but stabilized in October as there were increased harvests and less inquiries from its largest market, the United States of America. There is also the concern of a possible ban on Indian shrimp from the EU28 because of the escalating number of rejections, due to the presence of antibiotics. In response, India has intensified farm inspections through more significant monitoring, implementation of good aquaculture practices and penalising farms using unauthorised antibiotics.
In Viet Nam, shrimp production also increased; 679 000 hectares were used for brackish aquaculture during January–August 2017, which is 4.2% more than in the same time period in 2016. However, heavy rainfall in August caused low salinity in the ponds and affected shrimp health, with raw material prices rising since then.
In Indonesia, unfavorable weather has affected shrimp production. Raw materials prices are rising and supplies are low for export processing. In Thailand a reasonable recovery continues in the farmed shrimp sector. The industry reported a 10–20 % rise in production during 2017 compared with 2016.
In terms of wild-caught shrimp, another bumper catch of shrimp was reported for Argentina. From January–August 2017, landings totaled 139 000 tonnes, a 34.7% rise compared with the same period last year.

Exports

India and Ecuador continue as the top two exporters in the world market with a 35% and 18% increase in supplies respectively during the first half of 2017. Among the other top exporters, Viet Nam and China reported higher shipments during January-June 2017, whereas exports declined from Thailand.
For Ecuador, the boosts in export demand mainly came from Asian markets. The top five destinations were Viet Nam (+33%), the EU28 (+3%), the United States of America (+10%), China (+38%), and the Republic of Korea (+50%).
Viet Nam exported 96 000 tonnes of shrimp to 15 different markets during January–June 2017, which is only one percent higher compared with the same period in 2016. This volume included official imports of 580 tonnes to China, although the actual number was significantly higher through unofficial border trade. The top five import markets for Vietnamese shrimp were Japan (+23%), the EU28 (+1%), the United States of America (-17%), the Republic of Korea (+5%), and Australia (-7%). The export industry in Viet Nam is suffering from the unethical practice of injecting gel into raw shrimp, a process that increases the weight of shrimp, yielding a higher financial return. According to Undercurrent News, the Vietnamese Agriculture Department reported that out of 10 300 inspections carried out by the agency in the past year, approximately 1 107 found shrimp gel injections.
Exports from Thailand declined by 12% during the review period to total 82 300 tonnes. However, exports of value-added shrimp increased, particularly to Japan, where they grew by 12%.
Shrimp exports from China increased by 7% to 87 300 tonnes during the review period supported by higher sales of value-added shrimp, which make up nearly half of the total Chinese shrimp exports.
A raw material shortage in Indonesia resulted in lower exports of shrimp to North America, Europe and Asian markets. Total Indonesian exports during the review period declined by 18%, the lowest since 2015.

Imports

During the January–June 2017 review period, the top five importers of shrimp were the United States of America (+8%), the EU28 (+0.12%), Viet Nam (+30%), China (-11%) and the Republic of Korea (-10%).

Japan

The favourable economy supported the growth in consumer demand for raw and processed shrimp, with imports increasing during the review period. For the first time since 2014, half-yearly imports of shrimp in Japan reached 100 000 tonnes, which was 7% higher than last year's same period. Viet Nam, Thailand, Indonesia, India and China were the top suppliers to the Japanese market.
Demand for processed shrimp remains strong in Japan. Its share of total shrimp imports increased from 28% in 2016 to 30% during this year's review period. Thailand, Viet Nam, China and Indonesia together held 97% of this market share.

United States of America

Good seasonal demand during the summer months and stable wholesale prices resulted in an 8% rise in shrimp imports during the first half of 2017 to total 286 800 tonnes, worth USD 2.75 billon. The average import price increased from USD 9.06 per kg in June 2016 to USD 9.61 per kg in June 2017, as a result of the weaker US dollar.
The strong supply surge from India (+59%) was reflected in an increase of US shrimp imports from India during the first half of 2017. This growth was also a direct result of the reduction in the anti-dumping duty to 0.84% for Indian exporters, which is more than 2% less than compared with the previous review period.
The US market has weakened since September due to the devastating hurricanes. Consumer demand has been very low in the affected states of Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and the Carolinas. Overall consumption dropped sharply. Moreover, the devaluation of the US dollar has begun to negatively impact imports.

European Union

Shrimp imports in the EU28 remained stagnant at 323 900 tonnes during the first half of 2017. The top five single markets were Spain, France, Denmark, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands; all imported less compared with the same period in 2016.
During the first half of 2017, 73% of imports into the EU28 came from extra-EU28 sources. Imports declined from all sources but from Ecuador (+3%), Honduras (+33%), and Madagascar (+40%). During the review period, there was also a notable 11% decline in extra-EU28 imports of processed shrimp to total 47 600 tonnes.

Asia/Pacific

Import trends were lower in most of the Asian markets except in Viet Nam. Shrimp imports into China, declined by 11% to total 49 200 tonnes during January–June 2017, where Canada, Argentina, Ecuador, Greenland and India were the top sources.
Frozen shrimp imports into Viet Nam increased by 30% during the first half of the year, totaling nearly 200 000 tonnes. Most of these imports are then re-exported to China and re-processed for other markets. The top suppliers to Viet Nam were Ecuador, India, Thailand and Argentina.
In the Pacific, shrimp imports declined in Australia (-7%) and New Zealand (-3%) during the review period.