Peruvian white shrimp in crisis: national production could fall by half in 2024

The Peruvian white shrimp aquaculture harvest is expected to record its worst performance since 2016 this year, registering a drop of -46.63% compared to the previous season, reported the National Aquaculture Society (SNA). It is not expected to exceed 21,000 MT in 2024.

The cultivation of Litopenaeus vannamei of Tumbes represents 90% of national production and is one of the main permanent productive activities of the year, generating 98% of the region’s exports, formal employment and gender inclusion throughout its value chain.

However, the global crisis in the sector, driven by the fall in international prices, has caused a large part of companies to cease operations from 2023, and the situation has worsened from the first three months of 2024.

In addition to the fact that the activity is seen as high risk – which is why it does not easily access state-guaranteed loans from Impulso MyPerú – an increase in the prices of inputs and a drop in global demand has led to a new break-even point in production costs.

For this reason, the SNA points out that “working capital is required to optimize production costs by implementing innovation in crop management protocols.” Otherwise, these could be the last years for Peruvian white shrimp.

“Other producing countries in Central America, Ecuador, India, China and Thailand have established budgets from the public sector to support the value chain of aquaculture shrimp. […] “There is a loss of economic dynamism and formal employment throughout the value chain, mainly in the Tumbes region,” he said in a statement.

The SNA supports the need for reimbursable financial funds from public resources and the establishment of temporary economic measures in the form of sectoral incentives, aimed at the shrimp aquaculture sector in crisis.

“We have presented our findings directly to the MEF and Produce, and through the executive aquaculture committee, warning of the seriousness of the situation from 2023, but the support required by the sector has not been taken into account,” the report continues.

Peruvian white shrimp: falling prices and exports

Shrimp production in Peru fell from 45,184 MT in 2022 to a total of 39,748 MT in 2023. Between January and May 2024, the figure did not exceed 5,146 MT, in addition to the aggravating factor of having stopped planting more than 70% of the available area (mirror of water available for cultivation). For this year, it is not expected to close beyond 21,000 MT.

“This decrease is due to the closure of operations of a large part of the companies and those that are still operating have chosen to sow less crop area in relation to their total availability of water surface or have opted to reduce planting densities due to the low availability of working capital,” said the SNA.

In 2023, 32,536 MT of white shrimp were exported from Peru, an increase of 6.79% compared to 30,468 MT in 2022. However, the FOB value of shipments, despite more exports, fell from US$209 million 743 thousand to US$175 million 330 thousand last year, a contraction of -16.41%.

Similarly, in the first five months of 2024, shipments of 47,303 MT were made, a decrease of -39.06% compared to the same period in 2023, when the market recorded 77,624 MT. The FOB value continued to fall, going from accumulating US$13,951,000 to US$8,887,000 (-36.30%).

“As a private sector, we are committed to intensifying corrective measures and technological innovation to seek greater efficiency in production costs,” he said.

As a consequence of the fall in production in aquaculture fields, indirect employment, which is estimated at 3:1 in relation to direct employment (conditioned on production levels: sown area and sowing density), has also decreased significantly, affecting the value chain such as food services, metalworking, transportation, laboratory services, customs agencies, etc.

“Urgent support is required from the public sector, and we are sure that together with the private productive sector we will bring Peruvian shrimp farming forward,” he concludes.