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Deeptha Rajkumar

The share of the US in India's seafood exports has grown to 33.50 per cent during April-July this year.

KOCHI, Nov. 3

FOR the first time in 25 years, seafood exports to the US have overtaken exports to Japan, Mr Jose Cyriac, Chairman, Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), has said.

From 45 per cent 10 years ago, the share of Japan in India's exports fell to 31.53 per cent during the April-July 2002. Japan was India's biggest export destination and traditionally imports only block frozen items.

In value terms, exports to Japan stood at around Rs 585 crore as against Rs 816.58 crore during the corresponding period last year.

In direct contrast, from 12 per cent 10 years ago, the share of the US in India's exports has grown to 33.50 per cent during April-July period. In value terms, exports to the US stood at around Rs 621.44 crore as against Rs 445.73 crore in the corresponding period last year.

India's total seafood exports during the period registered a 8.12 per cent decline in dollar terms and a 4.25 per cent decline in rupee terms. Total seafood exports for the period stood at Rs 1855.32 crore as against Rs 1937.75 crore in the corresponding period last year.

As per data compiled by MPEDA, the unit value per kg in dollar terms, of frozen shrimp, declined by 6.99 per cent while the drop in quantity was around 4.15 per cent.

``The US represents a huge market specially for value added seafood. And of late there has been a perceptible shift in the composition of our export basket, with value added seafood showing signs of definite growth,'' Mr Cyriac said.

In fact for the fiscal 2001-2002, value-added seafood constituted around 15 per cent of the export basket. The Chairman said while in relative terms this was still a low figure, the sector had been growing rapidly. For the fiscal 2000-2001 it was around 11 per cent, while the year before it was 8 per cent.

Commenting on the drop in exports to Japan, Mr Cyriac said the situation was not really alarming. "What is really alarming is that port wise, total of exports from Kochi has registered a decline of 8.85 per cent in dollar terms and in terms of value,'' he said.

For the period April 2002-July 2002 exports from Kochi port stood at around Rs 164.17 crore as against Rs 287.02 crore during the corresponding period last year. Mr Cyriac said in 1989-90 40 per cent of the exports were from Kochi port.

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