Deficit of 1.5 billion USD in Ecuador's shrimp industry in 2023
Image: Vasep / Stockfile FIS
(ECUADOR, 1/15/2024)
Ecuador's shrimp industry ended 2023 with an export turnover deficit of about 1.5 billion USD. The main reason is that world shrimp prices have dropped sharply, even falling to lower levels than during the Covid-19 epidemic.
In the first 11 months of 2023, although Ecuadorian shrimp export volume increased by 14% over the same period last year, reaching 1.1 million tons, the export value decreased by 370 million USD. To maintain exports in the context of economic recession, the Ecuadorian shrimp industry had to sell a larger volume of shrimp at extremely low prices.