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NOAA Gulf Landings Data for August Show Robust Month in Louisiana and Alabama, but Another Down Month for Texas

Today, NOAA issued landing volume data for shrimp caught in the Gulf of Mexico in the month of August.

 

For the month of August, more shrimp was landed in the state of Louisiana than any prior August going back to 2007.  In total, reported landings in the state were a remarkable 44% above the seven-year (2007 through 2013) historical average.

 

If these data are accurate – NOAA’s reported figure for August 2014 was 6,693.9 thousands of pounds, while its reported volume for August 2013 was 5,693.9 thousands of pounds – this would mark the third straight months of landings in Louisiana that were significantly above historical averages.  These past three months have largely made up for a poor first five months of the year and, for the full year to date, landings in Louisiana are now only 9% below the seven-year historical average.

 

In contrast, landings data from Texas continue to be below historical marks.  In August, the volume of shrimp harvested in the state was nearly 22% below the seven-year historical average and the least productive August for the state since 2008.  The total harvest year for Texas through the first eight months is now 36% below the seven-year historical average, with the lowest volume reported going back to 2007.

 

For the entire Gulf, August landings were nearly 13% above the seven-year historical average with boosts both from Louisiana and Alabama.  NOAA reports that last month nearly 3.5 million pounds of shrimp was landed in Alabama, an amount well beyond the volume of shrimp usually landed in that state for August.

 

NOAA reports that dockside prices continue remain at high levels.  The table contained at the bottom of this alert, taken from NOAA’s monthly report, provides dockside prices for the Eastern Gulf, Northern Gulf, and Western Gulf.  The table compares dockside prices in August for various count sizes going back to 2010.

 

Official import data released by the U.S. government indicates that frozen, non-breaded warmwater shrimp import volumes have increased over 16% this year through July compared to last year.  In total, the U.S. imported over 600 million pounds of frozen, non-breaded warmwater shrimp in the first seven months of this year.

 

But although there has been a significant increase in shrimp import volumes in 2014, the values for these imports have increased to an even greater extent.  While shrimp import volumes increased 16%, the value of the shrimp imported has increased 53% compared to the first seven months of 2013.  Thus, while shrimp imports are growing, these shrimp are being sold at substantially higher values than they have in the past.

 

This increase in the average unit values of shrimp imports in 2014 compared to 2013 comes on the heels of a massive increase in the average unit values of shrimp imports in 2013.  The chart below shows average unit values (expressed as price per pound) for shrimp imports from 1996 to 2013.  Through July of 2014, the average unit value of shrimp imports has been $5.57 per pound, well beyond anything previously reported.

Remarkably, Urner Barry, a commercial subscription database that tracks prices for seafood on the wholesale market, is reporting that the wholesale prices for imported headless, shell-on shrimp – both Asian and Latin American – have largely been increasing over the last several months.

 

II. Ex-vessel price, (Average dollars per pound, headless)

 

August         2010        2011        2012         2013        2014

————————————————————————–

EASTERN GULF (Florida west coast ports)

————————————————————————–

UN/15           7.85        7.75        7.55         8.50        9.55

15/20           6.00        6.30        6.25         7.60        7.90

21/25           4.55        5.05        5.00         6.30        7.50

26/30           3.60        4.25        3.90         5.60        6.05

31/35           3.13        3.30        3.40         5.10        5.80

36/40           2.55        3.10        3.00         4.20        4.95

41/50           1.95        2.45        2.20         3.15        3.85

—————————————————————————-

NORTHERN GULF (Alabama, Louisiana, & Mississippi)

—————————————————————————-

UN/15           5.65        5.75        6.20         9.25        9.30

15/20          4.85        4.70        4.90         6.05        7.50

21/25          3.95        4.05        4.15         5.10        6.65

26/30          3.10        3.55        3.70         6.65        5.85

31/35          2.70        2.80        3.10         4.35        4.95

36/40          2.35        2.30        2.60         3.75        4.05

41/50          1.90        1.90        2.20         2.95        3.30

—————————————————————————-

WESTERN GULF (Texas ports)

—————————————————————————–

UN/15          6.45        8.10        7.20         9.65       10.90

15/20          5.20        4.85        4.95         6.85        7.65

21/25          4.10        4.20        4.50         5.60        6.55

26/30          3.80        3.60        3.85         5.25        6.10

31/35          3.15        3.15        3.50         4.60        5.25

36/40          2.30        2.35        3.10         3.85        4.60

41/50          2.00        2.05        2.60         2.95        4.25

 

 

Please click the following link to view SSA’s compilation and summary of August 2014 Shrimp Landings:

https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/August-2014-Landings.pdf

 

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