Date:28/09/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/09/28/stories/2005092800451200.htm

Back Indian shrimp prices decline in US markets
Festival demand fails to spark; exporters look to Japan

C.J. Punnathara

Kochi Sept. 27

, THE price of Indian shrimp has eased in the US markets, despite a shortage of processed shrimp in India and most of the exporters deserting the North American markets, sources in the Seafood Exporters Association of India said.

"Increasingly, Indian exporters have been shying away from the US markets given the onerous task of executing a bond and payment of anti-dumping duty upfront. Instead, they have been flocking back to Japan," sources in the industry said.

Most Indian exporters to the US have opted to wait for the report of the `Changed Circumstances Review' undertaken by the US-based International Trade Commission, which is to be published by October 31, before they resume their exports to the US.

Based on the report, the International Trade Commission will decide whether to revoke or continue with the anti-dumping duty imposed on Indian shrimp in the wake of the December 2004 tsunami, which ravaged large tracts of India's coastline.

But neither the shortage in Indian shrimp exports to the US nor the advent of the peak season demand for Christmas and New Year seems to have fuelled prices in the New York shrimp market.

On a month-to-month basis, the price of Indian shrimp has fallen for most counts in the New York shrimp market. Indian black tiger prices have fallen for 12/15 count to $7.20 on September 23, against $7.25 on August 26. The price of 16/20 count has fallen to $5.45 from $5.70 for the same period, that of 21/25 count has remained steady at $4.25, and the price of 26/30 count fell to $3.60 from $3.70.

The price of shrimp from competing destinations such as Bangladesh and Vietnam have fared no better in the US markets. Prices in the value-added segments such as cooked and peeled as well as the peeled and de-veined varieties have been holding steady in the US markets, from various countries.

The prices of Indian peeled and de-veined shrimp, both the tail-on and the tail-off varieties, have remained steady in the US markets.