Export sales of processed shrimp have been in a free-fall in recent months. (Photo: FIS)

Shrimp exports take a dive

ECUADOR
Thursday, January 29, 2009, 00:10 (GMT + 9)

Shrimp export sales plummeted some 4 million pounds in December with respect to the previous month, and nearly 5 million pounds compared to December 2007, stated Cesar Monje, the executive president of the National Aquaculture Chamber (CNA). 

The director qualified the current situation as being “very serious,” as losses are running at USD 10 million compared to November 2008.

The fall in shrimp exports is a trend that has been observed for two months now, and one which “reflects the global economic situation,” Monje said.

As such, Ecuadorian shrimp sector firms that export to Europe and the US “cannot control the situation [given that it is] a product of the credit squeeze affecting all exporting sectors," he explained.

"We are dependent on what happens in the external markets, which are now going through an inevitable crisis,” Monje said in declarations to EFE.

According to CNA statistics, 20.9 million pounds of shrimp were sold abroad in December 2008, against 24.7 million pounds a month earlier, and 25.2 million pounds in December 2007.

Given the current situation, Monje considers it necessary to “work towards an internal and more competitive union, so that production costs decrease.”

In relation to the possibility of diversifying markets, as has been suggested by the government, Monje commented: “We can consider opening markets like Russia or Mexico, but opening markets requires a lot of time.”

Of the 20 biggest exporting companies in the country, half deal in the shrimp business, the executive president pointed out.

By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com

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