According to the latest statistics of China Customs, the import of frozen warm water shrimp (mostly vannamei shrimp but also are black tiger shrimp and other warm water shrimps) in China fell for the second consecutive month in October.
Data shows that China imported 80,000 tons of frozen warm water shrimp in October, lower than the 87,000 tons in September. The headless shrimp imported from India halved from 20,000 tons in September to 10,000 tons in October, confirming the previous report of Indian sources on the decline in demand. Ecuador’s import volume decreased by 5,000 tons to 49,000 tons compared with that in September.
Data shows that in terms of value, China’s imports in October were 524 million US dollars, down from 581 million US dollars in September. In October, China imported $310 million worth of shrimp from Ecuador and $68 million worth of shrimp from India.
With the decrease of import volume, the import price has also decreased. The average unit price of shrimp imported from Ecuador decreased from USD 6.33/kg in September to USD 6.31/kg in October. The price from India dropped from USD 6.95/kg to USD 6.91/kg in October.
Some Chinese importers believe that due to the seasonal decline in demand after the increase of inventory for the Chinese Spring Festival, the import volume in November and December may further decline. The recent decline in farm delivery prices in Ecuador indicates that the market is slowing down, and it is expected that sales will not rise sharply again after the Chinese spring festival.