Analysis of seasonal variation of Indian frozen shrimp in the European Union market.

摘要

Fish, particularly shrimp, is becoming a staple food in the diet of the Europeans. The boost in aquaculture production has led to enhanced frozen shrimp exports from India during the past decade. After Japan and US, European Union (EU) has been found to be an emerging market for Indian frozen shrimp products. During 2006, the value of frozen shrimp exports to EU was 337.93 million US dollars amounting to 57,554 tonnes in terms of volume. Analyzing the seasonal pattern in the prices realized by the commodity in an international market will enable strategic planning for maximum gains. This article presents the analysis of seasonal variation in prices according to various size grades of Headless (HL) Black Tiger in the EU shrimp market. The prices realized for HL Black Tiger shrimp exports to the EU during 2006 was in the range of 6.30 to 11.30 $ per kg for the grade 16/20, 5.10 to 10.00 $ per kg for the grade 21/25, and 2.95 to 9.80 $ per kg for the grade 26/30. A sharp decline in the prices was realized in the export of HL Black Tiger to EU over the past few years. The reasons for the price fluctuations have been identified. The seasonal variation in the prices during 2006 was studied, and it was found that for the popular grades like Black Tiger shrimp, the seasonal indices were high during the third quarter of the year. Lowest prices were realized during the first quarter of 2006. Our export strategy should be based on the seasonal demand for the products with morestress on value addition with an Eco label.