Abu Sazzad :
Shrimp export has been losing its previous glory day by day due to sluggish demand in the international market, stakeholders said. They said countries like India, Thailand, China, Indonesia and Vietnam have been producing white shrimps over the last several years and exporting those at a lower price than Bangladesh.
According to exporters, only 8.0 per cent of the total frozen fish exports are now destined to the US market, once the country’s single-largest market. The country’s export there was about 30 per cent in five years ago.
“We are forced to sell at lower prices to retain our international buyers,” SM Amzad Hossain, President of Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association, told The New Nation on Monday.
“Actually, exports to Russia have dropped to almost zero, while the demand for shrimp also fell in Europe because of an economic slowdown there,” he said.
Shrimp exports to the US have been declining each year since 2008-09 as we can’t compete with other exporting countries,” said Amzad Hossain.
Frozen food is the second largest export item of the country, earning about $400 million of foreign currency yearly. It is about three per cent of the total export and contributing 3.78 per cent to GDP.
Shrimp contains more than 80 per cent of frozen food item. Bangladesh captured 2.5 per cent of world shrimp market. In the last fiscal, the country earned $509.72 million in exporting shrimp, but the stakeholders feared that this year the earning might decline further.
Earnings from shrimp export witnessed a sharp fall in the first quarter of the current financial year (FY) 2015-16 due to the item’s sluggish demand and devaluation of currencies in the major destinations. Export earnings from shrimps in the July-September period of the current financial year fell by 38.42 per cent to $111.02 million from $180.30 million in the same period of the FY15, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.
Shrimp export to the US market in the July-September period of the FY16 decreased by 25.38 per cent to $3.53 million from $4.74 million in the same period of the FY15.
Amzad Hossain said the price of shrimps has been decreased by 40 per cent in the EU and Russia due to depression of the euro and the rubble against the dollar.
The EPB data shows that earnings from shrimp export to Germany in the first quarter of the FY16 fell by 23.60 per cent to $19.10 million from $25 million in the same period of the FY 15. Export earnings from France in the July-September period of the FY16 decreased by 37.60 per cent to $5.54 million from $8.88 million in the same period of the FY15.
Earnings from shrimp export to the United Kingdom in the July-September period of the FY16 decreased to $17.33 million from $18.04 million in the same period of the FY15.
The shrimp export earnings from Russia in the first quarter of the FY16 declined by 81.08 per cent to $2.85 million from 15.07 million in the same period of the FY15.
Talking to The New Nation, Md Golam Mostafa, Vice-President of the Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association said, the EU holds the 75 per cent market share of Bangladeshi shrimp exports while Russia holds 10 per cent.
Country’s frozen shrimp has been losing its market in the US over the last decade as it has failed to compete with low-cost and small-sized foreign white varieties, he said.
He also said the shrimp exporters are now facing liquidity crisis due to the fall in price on the international market.
Shrimp export has been losing its previous glory day by day due to sluggish demand in the international market, stakeholders said. They said countries like India, Thailand, China, Indonesia and Vietnam have been producing white shrimps over the last several years and exporting those at a lower price than Bangladesh.
According to exporters, only 8.0 per cent of the total frozen fish exports are now destined to the US market, once the country’s single-largest market. The country’s export there was about 30 per cent in five years ago.
“We are forced to sell at lower prices to retain our international buyers,” SM Amzad Hossain, President of Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association, told The New Nation on Monday.
“Actually, exports to Russia have dropped to almost zero, while the demand for shrimp also fell in Europe because of an economic slowdown there,” he said.
Shrimp exports to the US have been declining each year since 2008-09 as we can’t compete with other exporting countries,” said Amzad Hossain.
Frozen food is the second largest export item of the country, earning about $400 million of foreign currency yearly. It is about three per cent of the total export and contributing 3.78 per cent to GDP.
Shrimp contains more than 80 per cent of frozen food item. Bangladesh captured 2.5 per cent of world shrimp market. In the last fiscal, the country earned $509.72 million in exporting shrimp, but the stakeholders feared that this year the earning might decline further.
Earnings from shrimp export witnessed a sharp fall in the first quarter of the current financial year (FY) 2015-16 due to the item’s sluggish demand and devaluation of currencies in the major destinations. Export earnings from shrimps in the July-September period of the current financial year fell by 38.42 per cent to $111.02 million from $180.30 million in the same period of the FY15, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.
Shrimp export to the US market in the July-September period of the FY16 decreased by 25.38 per cent to $3.53 million from $4.74 million in the same period of the FY15.
Amzad Hossain said the price of shrimps has been decreased by 40 per cent in the EU and Russia due to depression of the euro and the rubble against the dollar.
The EPB data shows that earnings from shrimp export to Germany in the first quarter of the FY16 fell by 23.60 per cent to $19.10 million from $25 million in the same period of the FY 15. Export earnings from France in the July-September period of the FY16 decreased by 37.60 per cent to $5.54 million from $8.88 million in the same period of the FY15.
Earnings from shrimp export to the United Kingdom in the July-September period of the FY16 decreased to $17.33 million from $18.04 million in the same period of the FY15.
The shrimp export earnings from Russia in the first quarter of the FY16 declined by 81.08 per cent to $2.85 million from 15.07 million in the same period of the FY15.
Talking to The New Nation, Md Golam Mostafa, Vice-President of the Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association said, the EU holds the 75 per cent market share of Bangladeshi shrimp exports while Russia holds 10 per cent.
Country’s frozen shrimp has been losing its market in the US over the last decade as it has failed to compete with low-cost and small-sized foreign white varieties, he said.
He also said the shrimp exporters are now facing liquidity crisis due to the fall in price on the international market.
