World Market Prices

Finished product

Shrimp prices vary with size, source, species and time of the year. The frozen product in particular behaves like a commodity with price fluctuations weekly or even daily depending on an interplay of factors that affect global supply and demand. In 1999, for example, the white spot disease problem in Ecuador, a major supplier in the world, brought about short supply. At the same time a strong US economy and some recovery in Asia created increased demand, with the end result of a price rise from mid-1999 to the present. . If this trend holds, industry sources forecast that frozen shrimp prices should increase 6%-10% more than 1999 prices by the end of 2000.

US market
The prices of popular types of shrimps that are worth watching are those of Thai Black Tiger shell-on 21/25, Gulf of Mexico White shell-on 31/35 and Ecuador White 21/25, which averaged US$ 7.12/lb (increasing), US$ 6.25/lb (increasing) and US$ 7.71/lb (decreasing), respectively,

Source : Urner Barry's report June 24, 2000