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Frozen Foods International News
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| Shrimp and Oil Don't Mix |
As the Gulf Coast oil spill continues to gush, US seafood
suppliers are turning to Asia to ensure Americans have enough
shrimp for their barbies or whatever this summer, but some of
those overseas cupboards are low themselves.
Several countries in the world's top shrimp-producing region are
struggling to satisfy their own appetites for shrimp because of
disease, drought and the economic crisis. The oil spill is one
more factor driving prices skyward, sending a worldwide ripple
through an already tight shrimp market.
The price of plump black tiger shrimp is at a 10-year high in
Vietnam, selling for around $13.50 per kilogram ($6.14 per
pound). Domestic consumption has remained high, nibbling away at
cold stocks normally available for export prior to August harvests.
According to Infofish, wholesale shrimp prices have risen by
about 15-20% since a BP-operated oil rig exploded 10 weeks ago,
causing an undersea blowout that has spewed millions of gallons
of oil into the Gulf.
Ecuador is the only country among the top five US suppliers
located outside of Asia. More than a third of the nearly 550,000
tons of shrimp imported by the US last year came from Thailand,
the top shipper, according to Infofish.
Thailand has remained a stable supplier, largely unaffected by a
virus that has crippled stocks in Bangladesh and Indonesia, the
second top supplier to the US last year. For the January-April
period before the Gulf oil spill, US imports of Indonesia shrimp
were down 30% from a year earlier. Imports from Thailand were up
about 17% over the same period, Infofish data reported.
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| 29-Jun-10 |
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