Last week NOAA released preliminary shrimp landing figures for the Gulf of Mexico for the month of July. NOAA does not release shrimp landings figures from the South Atlantic on a monthly basis, so no similar figures are available from the agency for the east coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
Once again, landing volumes were below historical averages. Region-wide, unloading docks reported landings of 9.4 million pounds for the month of July, compared to 11.3 million pounds in July 2013. We’ve been maintaining the landing volumes released by NOAA since 2007 as one way to track industry conditions in historical context and the seven-year average — as shown in the attached — is 11.2 million pounds for the month of July. Total landings last month were 16.4% below this historical average. At the same time, the charts in the attached show that this past July was the third most productive harvest month over the last five years.
Texas once again reported bleak numbers, with a total harvest of 2.9 million pounds compared to 5.4 million pounds in July 2013 and 7 million pounds in July 2011. The seven-year historical average is about 5.2 million pounds, so last month’s harvest was 43.4% below that average. It was the second lowest volume of landings for July in Texas going back to 2007 (only 2012 was lower).
Louisiana posted remarkably different numbers. The 4.9 million pounds landed in July in Louisiana was the second highest total since 2007, surpassed only by the 5.8 million pounds landed in July 2007. The seven-year historical average for the state was 3.9 million pounds, so the July 2014 landings were 27.5% above the average.
For the first seven months of this year, Louisiana’s harvest is still 18% below the seven-year historical average, but that difference may narrow further if August has also been a productive month for the state.
Texas is nearly 45% below the historical seven-year average. Landings during the first seven months of the year tend to account for only between one-third and two-fifths of the total annual Texas harvest, so there may still be substantial volumes landed in state for 2014.
While volumes have been disappointing, the ex-vessel prices reported by NOAA continue to be robust as indicated in the table below:
II. Ex-vessel price, (Average dollars per pound, headless)
July 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
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EASTERN GULF (Florida west coast ports)
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UN/15 7.85 7.60 7.85 7.80 9.15
15/20 6.50 6.20 6.75 5.90 8.15
21/25 4.60 5.00 5.15 5.05 7.30
26/30 4.15 4.20 4.05 4.25 6.50
31/35 3.60 3.30 3.40 3.40 5.75
36/40 3.05 2.90 2.65 2.90 4.80
41/50 1.35 2.10 2.40 2.35 3.70
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NORTHERN GULF (Alabama, Louisiana, & Mississippi)
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UN/15 5.35 6.50 6.10 8.65 9.05
15/20 4.65 4.80 4.80 5.60 7.30
21/25 3.85 4.00 4.10 4.80 6.60
26/30 3.65 3.55 3.65 4.45 5.75
31/35 2.80 2.80 3.15 4.10 4.90
36/40 2.75 2.40 2.60 3.25 4.25
41/50 2.30 2.05 2.25 2.60 3.70
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WESTERN GULF (Texas ports)
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UN/15 6.70 9.25 6.40 9.00 11.20
15/20 5.60 5.70 4.95 6.20 7.95
21/25 4.40 4.75 4.50 5.00 7.40
26/30 4.00 4.00 4.15 4.70 6.80
31/35 3.20 3.20 3.60 4.00 5.25
36/40 2.45 2.45 3.15 3.40 4.60
41/50 2.20 2.00 2.75 2.70 4.00
Please click the following link to view the PDF version of July 2014 landings:
https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/July-2014-Landings.pdf