Shrimp stocks shrink

Thapar owned aqua culture company, Waterbase went down almost 8% to Rs.253; Avanti Feeds slumped almost 4.5% to Rs.2255.45; Apex Frozen Foods declined 3.5% to Rs.631.05 but has since then bounced back and is now the only company in this sector to sport the green colour on the BSE.

The fall in the stock price of these aqua culture company is thanks to Trump. Over the weekend, the US Govt has suggested a hike in the antidumping duty of frozen warm-water shrimps from the current 0.84% to 2.34%.

The market is naturally worried as USA is India’s largest export market for sea-food. India’s shrimp exports for Jan’18 have shown a sharp rise of 49% (YoY).

The industry though shrugs off this hike in duty saying that it will not impact business as volumes are pretty high to offset the effect. Also, price realisations have gone up, albeit marginally, from $9.7/kg to $10/kg (YoY) in Jan’18.