India set to reach top spot with 20% growth

Mumbai SHRIMP exports are expected to grow by 20 per cent to about $4.3 billion in 2021, driven by a revival in demand and restoration of supply chains that were disrupted last year by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report.

It should help India wrest global leadership in shrimp exports after slipping to the second spot in 2020, rating agency Crisil said in the report. "India's shrimp exports contracted 23 per cent in calendar 2020 due to subdued demand in key export markets because of lockdowns and disruptions in brood-stock supplies from the US, which impacted the domestic shrimp harvest cycle," Crisil Ratings Director Rahul Guha said.

The good part is, the second wave of the pandemic has not led to stringent curbs on the movement of raw materials and stock, so it won't be as disruptive as the first wave, he noted. "Therefore, we expect exporters to manage their operations well and grow an average of 20 per cent this year," he added. In 2020, lockdowns and supply-chain disruptions led exports to decline to $3.6 billion from $4.7 billion in 2019.

Ecuador edged past India with $3.7 billion exports because it had fewer logistical chaos and focused on catering to the voracious appetite in China for raw shrimps. India, Ecuador and Vietnam account for 55 per cent of the global shrimp sales. India rose to prominence as a shrimp exporter in the past decade, owing to a sharp focus on quality and disease control and by shifting to the more resilient, specific pathogen-free brood-stock from the US.