Ecuador shrimp exports at record levels in 2017

Ecuadorian shrimp production

Ecuadorian shrimp exports reached a record high level in the first half of 2017, according to figures from the Ecuadorian chamber of aquaculture.

Ecuadorian shrimp production increased year-on-year between January-June this year, despite heavy rains in the early months of 2017.

Ecuadorian shrimp exports between 1994 and 2017 (until May) in pound Source: Ecuadorian chamber of aquaculture

"We grew in a sustainable way for more than 16 years, after being affected by white spot in 2000," the Ecuadorian chamber of aquaculture's executive president, Jose Antonio Camposano, told Undercurrent News.

"Our monthly production for 2017 has been a record," Camposano told Undercurrent.

Ecuadorian shrimp exports between January and May totaled about 368.5 million pounds (167,155 metric tons), up 14% year-on-year. In June, exports rose to about 86m pounds (39,008t), up 21% y-o-y, according to data from the Ecuadorian chamber of aquaculture.

Camposano also said that the country's production is expected to increase between 7-9% in 2017 year-on-year.

In 2016 Ecuador exported a total of 799.8m pound (362,808t), up 11% compared with 2015.

"We are the main supplier to the EU, the most demanding market," Camposano also noted.