After rebounding slightly in May, imports of shrimp products in the United States fell into a slump again in June, with volumes and imports falling by more than double digits year-on-year.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the United States imported 53,358 tons of frozen shrimp products in June, down 14% from the previous year, and the import value of $418 million, down 18% from the previous year. Because of the decline in imports in June, the overall import volume in the first half of the year was less than the same period last year, and the cumulative import volume from January to June reached 351,025 tons, down 3%. Imports were about $2.7 billion, down 10 % from a year earlier.
India remains the largest supply of shrimp in the United States, with exports of 130,040 tons in the first half of the year, a 1% year-on-year increase in the U.S. import share of 37 %. Exports were about $960 million, down 80% from a year earlier. In June, the average export price for shrimp in India was 3.58/lb, which rose 20% from a month earlier, down 30% from a year earlier.
In the first half of this year, Vietnamese exporters performed well, with cumulative sales of 25,528 tons in the first six months of the year, an increase of 10%, exports of $247 million, an increase of 1%, and Vietnamese shrimp accounted for 7% of US imports. However, sales slowed in June, with exports down 8% year on year to 5.32 tons and exports down 17% year on year to $49.9 million. The average price of shrimp in Vietnam in June was $4.58/lb, up 5% from the previous month and down 8% from the previous year.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's trade data