[Economics] Shrimp reached a record number of exports until October

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The crustacean became the first non-oil product to exceed the barrier of $ 4 billion in shipments abroad.

Ecuador's shrimp reaches 56 destinations worldwide. China is the main buyer.

 

Shrimp is the main non-oil export product in 2021. With the good performance registered until October, it continues to displace bananas to second place. In fact, this leadership has maintained it since 2019 when more shrimp than fruit were shipped.

In the first ten months of the year, the shrimp sector sent shipments for $ 4,174 million, 32% more compared to 2020 when $ 3,168 million were exported. The figure is also a record in the history of crustacean sales abroad since the amount reached in October is even 62% higher if the shipments sent in all of 2016 are taken into account.

Data from the Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE) reveal this behavior:

YEAR VALUE <br/> IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
2016 $ 2,580
2017 $ 3.043
2018 $ 3,189
2019 $ 3,890
2020 $ 3,823
2021 <br/> (only from January to October) $ 4,174

 

José Antonio Camposano, president of the National Chamber of Aquaculture (CNA), points out that this behavior is due to a “rebound effect” that has been experienced since February due to the recovery of demand, especially in hotels and restaurants in China, the United States and Spain. , added to a greater shipment of shrimp to the retail segment.

An additional factor that drove this rise was the commitment of the business sector to invest. Private investments in ripeners, farms and processing plants also boosted the good performance. However, Camposano affirms that a challenge to overcome is the logistics issue that affects the entire export chain.

According to the head of the CNA, the figures reached will be affected in the last two months of the year and the entire first half of 2022 by the crisis of containers and spaces to send product. Currently there are disadvantages to export between 30% and 50% of the national production.

 

The trade balance
Until October 2021, the total trade balance of Ecuador registered a favorable balance of $ 2,332 million. This as a result of a trade surplus of $ 3,827 million in the oil balance and a deficit of $ 1,495 million in the non-oil balance, according to data from the Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE).

In ten months of the year, the country's total exports (oil and non-oil) grew 31%, compared to the 2020 period, giving a figure of $ 21,558 million. In the same period of last year, $ 16,458 million was sent abroad.

Within non-oil exports, the products that grew between one and two digits, in addition to shrimp, were coffee, cocoa, tuna, fish and flowers. Regarding shipments of non-traditional non-oil goods, the star product was those of the mining sector.

 

The countries that most demanded Ecuadorian product
Between January and October of this year, according to the ECB, Panama was one of the countries that most demanded goods from Ecuador. In 2021, the nation bought the country $ 3,530 million, a high figure if one takes into consideration that in 2019 $ 1,610 million was exported to that country.

Other destinations that performed well in the first ten months of the year were Canada and the member countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). With this last block, Ecuador maintains an agreement in force since November 1, 2020, which has allowed the exchange to increase in the last year. (I)

 

Link: https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/economia/el-camaron-llego-a-una-cifra-record-de-exportaciones-hasta-octubre-nota/