While shrimp exports from Ecuador in Q2 2024 almost reached 350,000 MT (+11% year over year) for the first time in its history, Q3 failed to break another record. Exports stayed just below 300,000 MT, dropping 3% year over year. With a drop of 3% year over year in July and an increase of 6% in August, it looked like also Q3 may outperform previous years. However, in September, exports dropped 11% year over year, bringing the Q3 total down by 3% and the year total down by at par with 2023.
With the drops in exports in Q3 to China and the US, respectively, down by 7% and 19% year over year, Ecuador’s exporters worked hard to diversify their export markets. Remarkable increases are seen in the EU (8%), Russia (108%), Japan (114%) and Taiwan (114%). With this diversification of markets, in Q3, the relative share of exports to China dropped from 56% in 2023 to 53% in 2024, and the share of exports to the US from 19% to 16%. The share of the EU grew from 17% to 19%, and the share of all other markets combined grew from 8% to 12%.
While the average value of exports to China has since January 2024, at best, stabilized around $4.50, the average value of exports to the US and Spain (Ecuador’s biggest market in the EU) has increased. For the US, it dropped from $6.00 in January to $5.69 in May but then increased to $6.35 in August before it fell back to $6.18 in September. For Spain, $4.58 in January to $4.75 in September. These numbers make clear that the overall stabilization of exports this year has stopped prices from spiraling down and even created some upward price development in some of Ecuador’s prime export markets.
