India saw its seafood exports in the last fiscal year drop in both value and volume, primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lower demand in key markets.
The country exported seafood worth USD 5.96 billion (EUR 4.9 billion) in the 2020-21 fiscal year ending on 31 March, a decline of 10.8 percent year-on-year. India’s seafood exports also slid by volume to 1.15 million metric tons (MT), down 10.8 percent compared to 2019-20, The Times of India reported 5 June.
India’s Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) Chairman K S Srinivas said exports recovered in the last quarter of the last fiscal year following decreases in the previous quarters due to the pandemic.
Sales of aquaculture products were up by both value and volume last year, and accounted for nearly 68 percent of the country’s total seafood export value and 46.4 percent of its total export volume. But India’s captured seafood exports fell in both value and volume.
India exported 590,275 MT of shrimp in the fiscal year, 9.5 percent lower year-on-year, mainly to the U.S. with 272,041 MT; China at 101,846 MT; the E.U. at 70,133 MT; Japan at 40,502 MT; Southeast Asia at 38,389 MT; and the Middle East at 29,108 MT. India’s shrimp export value fell 4.3 percent to USD 4.43 billion (EUR 3.64 billion).
India’s vannamei exports fell 3.9 percent to 492,271 MT, with U.S., China, the E.U., Japan, Southeast Asia and the Middle East being key destinations.
The U.S. was the largest buyer of seafood from India in the last fiscal year, importing 291,948 MT in total, down 4.3 percent year-on-year. Its total purchases fell 4.3 percent in dollar value.
India’s exports of black tiger shrimp shrank nearly 71 percent. Sales of black tiger shrimp to Japan accounted for 39.7 percent of India’s black tiger shrimp export value, followed by the U.S. with 26 percent, Southeast Asia with 9.3 percent, the E.U. with 8.9 percent, the Middle East with 6 percent and China with 3.8 percent.
India’s sales of frozen fish ranked second after shrimp, but its frozen fish exports dropped 15.8 percent in volume and 21.7 percent in value.
Photo courtesy of Snehal Jeevan Pailkar/Shutterstock
