Seafood exporters shift focus to Japan

To offset US move on anti-dumping duty, shrimp exporters try to restore exports to Japan

Following a 14.2 per cent preliminary anti-dumping duty by the US on Indian shrimp exports, the Andhra Pradesh seafood exporters have set their sights on the Japanese market.

Andhra Pradesh accounts for around 40 per cent of the country's shrimp exports.

"We have to look for new markets besides restoring our exports to old markets like Japan, which is a major shrimp importer. There is no other go for aqua farmers in the state. We are, therefore, prepared to accept the low prices being offered by the Japanese buyers citing muddy smell," U K Viswanadha Raju, president of the state chapter of Seafood Exporters Association of India, told Business Standard.

Traditionally, Japan was the main importer of Indian shrimp. However, the last four years saw a gradual decline in shrimp exports from India to Japan.

This was mainly due to the sluggish economy in Japan and another reason was that the US importers were preferring the Indian shrimp to the Japanese shrimp and were offering higher prices for the former.

This prompted the Indian exporters to ignore the Japanese market and slowly shift to the US market.

Shrimp exports comprise around 70 per cent of the total marine exports from the country. According to Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA), the marine exports were at Rs 5,957.05 crore during 2001-02.

Of this, shrimp exports were around Rs 4139.92 crore. During 2002-03, shrimp exports were around Rs 4,608 crore out of the total marine exports of Rs 6,881.31 crore.

MPEDA expects a nine per cent fall in in the marine exports during 2003-04 as there was a slump in exports to Japan and the US.

During 2001-02, the Japanese companies imported Rs 1,820.69 crore worth shrimp from India. In 2002-03 shrimp exports to Japan were reduced to Rs 1,534 crore which was 33.28 per cent of the total shrimp exports as compared to 43.97 per cent in 2001-02. During 2003-04, shrimp exports to Japan further declined.

On the other hand shrimp exports to the US increased significantly. During 2001-02, the US buyers imported Rs 1,421.38 crore worth shrimp from India, which was around 30 per cent of country's total shrimp exports.

The exports to the US increased to Rs 2,051.12 crore during 2002-03, which amounted to 44.5 per cent of country's total shrimp exports.

To counter the adverse effect of the anti-dumping duty imposed by the US, MPEDA is asking the seafood exporters to step up their exports to the Japanese market.

"During the last fiscal, the Japanese shrimp buyers rejected several consignments due to their muddy smell. They reduced their imports particularly from Andhra Pradesh. After our recent initiatives, three to four Japanese buyers have agreed to buy Andhra shrimp. Though they are offering a price of $1 to $1.5 lower for a kg of shrimp, some Andhra exporters have been sending their consignments to Japan for the last few weeks," Viswanadha Raju said.

The seafood exporters, in co-ordination with MPEDA, are organising awareness and training programmes for the aqua farmers to avoid the muddy smell during the shrimp culture.

The seafood exporters association has urged MPEDA to impose a ban on exports of shrimp from West Godavari district, which is the major source of muddy smell.

West Godavari district produces around 20,000 tonnes of shrimp every year. The muddy smell emanating from the shrimp from this area had severely affected the shrimp exports from other districts, amounting to around 90,000 tonnes a year.

"If we stop the exports of West Godavari district shrimp for some time, shrimp exports to Japan will increase considerably and farmers will get good prices," Raju said.