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THAILAND SEEKS BIGGER SLICE OF AMERICAN SHRIMP MARKET
The Commerce Ministry has instructed the Office of Commercial Affairs in Washington, DC, to seek ways to push for greater imports of Thailand’s shrimps by the US.
One way is to further foster ties with American importers and the big supermarket chain operators in the United States, according to the Commerce Ministry’s permanent secretary Nuntawan Sakuntanaga.
The number of shrimps imported by the US rose 15.22 per cent year-on-year in the first nine months of this year to a value of US$4.568 billion (Bt149.5 billion). Of the total value, $3.552 billion accounted for frozen shrimps, up 13.2 per cent year on year, and $1.005 billion was the value of processed shrimps, up 23.5 per cent year on year.
Thailand is the third-largest exporter of shrimps to the US, accounting for 12.12 per cent of total shrimp import. In the first nine months of this year, the value of Thai shrimp exports to the US reached $553.56 million, up 1.68 per cent year on year.
India is the biggest shrimp exporter to the US, with a value of $5.78 billion. Nuntawan added that in the next five years Indian shrimp exports to the world’s market are expected to be worth $15 billion.
