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Record Year for Shrimp Imports in 2014

The U.S. Census Bureau released official import statistics for November 2014 earlier this week.  These data show that 2014 will set historical records in terms of the overall value of frozen, non-breaded warmwater shrimp imports and will be at near all-time highs in terms of volume.

 

As shown in the chart below, even without accounting for December (data regarding December imports will be released in February), frozen, non-breaded warmwater shrimp import volumes are higher than they were in all of 2013 and 2012.  In total, the volume of frozen, non-breaded shrimp imports this year is 14.7% higher than it was in the first eleven months of 2013.

 

The U.S. market has averaged over 96 million pounds of frozen, non-breaded warmwater shrimp imports a month in 2014.  If that amount of shrimp also entered in December, the total for 2014 (1.15 billion pounds) will be close to 2011 (1.16 billion pounds) and just below 2006 (1.18 billion pounds), the historical high for frozen, non-breaded shrimp imports.

 

There are indications that shrimp import volumes in December were higher than the monthly average in 2014, with market reports indicating high volumes of imports last month.  This would continue the current trend in the market, as the volume of frozen, non-breaded warmwater shrimp imported in November was 8.2% above the monthly average for January through October 2014.

 

 

 

 

While discussions of shrimp imports have largely focused on import volumes, the import value figures are even more remarkable.

 

The chart below shows frozen, non-breaded warmwater shrimp import values.  Through November of this year, the U.S. market has imported $5.8 billion in frozen, non-breaded warmwater shrimp imports.  With a month left of reporting to be made, as shown in the chart, 2014 has already surpassed previous historical highs.

 

For this year, the U.S. market is averaging $526 million in frozen, non-breaded warmwater shrimp imports a month.  If that same value of shrimp was imported in December, the final tally for 2014 would be $6.3 billion in frozen, non-breaded warmwater shrimp imported this year.

 

Like the volume of shrimp, it is likely that once December data are available the final total will be even higher.  The value of shrimp imported in November was 7.9% above the monthly average from January to October 2014.

 

 

 

While import volumes are up 14.7% compared to the same time period last year, the value of these imports is up 32.4%.

 

On a per-unit basis, these totals means that the average unit value of a pound of frozen, non-breaded warmwater shrimp imports was $5.48 a pound this year.  As shown in the chart below, this amount is unprecedented.

 

In the eight years between 2003 and 2010, the average unit value of a pound of imported frozen, non-breaded shrimp was $3.30.  The average unit value of a pound of imported frozen, non-breaded warmwater shrimp in 2014 is fully two-thirds higher than that.  The average unit value of frozen, non-breaded warmwater shrimp imports in 2014 is 15.5% higher than it was during the first eleven months of 2013.

 

 

 

 

Although the statistics presented here for frozen, non-breaded warmwater shrimp imports encompass a wide-range of products (shrimp in different count-sizes and at different stages of preparation), the overall trends have been consistent.  For example, in November, even with import volumes exceeding the previous monthly average in 2014, the average unit value of these imports was $5.46 per pound, only slightly below the $5.48 per pound average for all of 2014.

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