India's seafood exports fall in the first half as the global recession and trade barriers in Japan and China continue to plague exporters.
Global economic recession, especially in the EU, coupled with the slowdown in exports of shrimp to Japan, caused a fall in India's seafood exports for the first half of the financial year from April to September, said major Kochi-based exporters in a report by Business Standard.
Exports in the first half of this year were 349,009 metric tons, a 6.9 percent fall in volume year-on-year. In terms of value, exports totaled $1.4 billion (€1.4 billion), a drop of 16.6 percent year-on-year.
New regulations and certification systems by China have also affected exports during the period.
Detection of ethoxyquin, an anti-oxidant used in shrimp feed, above permitted levels stalled exports to Japan forweeks. This caused huge losses to exporters in Odisha and West Bengal.
The issue remains unresolved and India has sought intervention of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in resolving the matter.
Frozen shrimp continued to be the major export item, accounting for 55.4 percent of total dollar earnings. In volume terms, its export decreased one percent.
The unit value of exports also showed a decline of 10.4 percent, provisional data of the Marine Products Export Development Authoritysaid.
United States became the largest buyer of Indian seafood products, with a share of 24.3 percent, followed by the EU (24.2 percent), Southeast Asia (18.1 percent), Japan (12.5 percent), West Asia (6.3 percent) and China at 5.47 percent.
Exports to the US registered a growth of 11.4 percentin volume, but a decline of 9.8 percent in dollar value.