India and Ecuador set new records in import volume into the US in the first four months of 2024. India surpassed the 100,000 MT mark for the first time, reaching 109,478 MT, a remarkable 30% increase compared to 2023. Ecuador also showed impressive growth, reaching 76,074 MT, a 17% increase from 2023. Other top suppliers, including Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand, saw a year-on-year increase, albeit below their previous records set in 2022.
India started 2024 with a year-on-year drop in January (-18%) but then experienced a surge in February (+22%), March (+25%), and especially April (+97%). Reaching 42,331 MT, with the previous record at 36,773 in August 2021, makes April 2024 imports a new monthly record. The US raw peeled imports from India grew the most (+37%), and the category makes up 75% of the total. Cooked peeled imports surged +19% and composed 15% of the total. Breaded shrimp is also on the rise. It is still tiny but almost touching 1,000 MT and is expected to increase further over 2024. Only shell-on imports from India slightly dropped by 1%. Shell-on products still account for 9% of the total.
Ecuador also started 2024 with a year-on-year drop. US imports from Ecuador dropped by 6% in January. In February, March, and April, imports from Ecuador increased by 10%, 25%, and 46%, respectively. Contrary to India, which saw an upward trend from January to April 2024 and imports from March to April 2024 almost doubled, Ecuador saw imports drop slightly from March to April 2024. The import increase from Ecuador was mainly accounted for by shell-on products (including HLSO EZP), which surged by +25% and accounted for 61% of the total. Peeled shrimp increased by +4% and comprised 35% of the total. Breaded and cooked shrimp each account for 2% of the total. Cooked shrimp experienced a 122% increase year-on-year, signaling potential competition for India.
US imports from January to April 2024 reached 284,594 MT for all US suppliers combined. This is a 20% year-on-year increase and just 1% below the record 288,435 MT of 2022. US 2024 imports have experienced an upward trend from 59,629 MT in January, 59,669 MT in February, 64,495 MT in March, and 101,803 MT in April. These are -14%, +12%, +8%, +81% year-on-year changes for each month. The drastic increase in April may be related to the expected rulings of the CVD and AD cases. It will be interesting to see whether the surge in imports was temporary to prevent paying expected duties or whether it is also an indication of an uptick in demand.
