According to data from Bangladesh’s Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), export earnings from seafood fell by 27.39 per cent to US$208.27 million during the first five months of the current fiscal year (FY 2022-23) from $286.85 million in the corresponding period (Jul-Nov) of last FY.
A Financial Express report, quoting industry insiders, attributes this slump to declining demand for expensive fish varieties, particularly shrimps (the type Bangladesh exports) in the up markets. In FY 2010-11, export earnings from local frozen fish, including shrimp, stood at $625.04 million and has been on a slide since then, except for the FY ’14 when the sector earned the highest $638.19 million.
The downward trend continued until FY 2019-20 to reach $456.15 million, before recovering to some extent in the following two FYs when export earnings rose to US$477 million and US$532.94 million respectively in FY 2020-21 and FY 2021-22.
The FE report further adds that both prices and demand for frozen fish, particularly shrimps, declined in the major markets because the global market is flooded with cheaper shrimp variety called vannamei. That is to say, the low cost variety has captured global market to the extent that the high-value shrimp, namely, Bagda, for which Bangladesh has attained much repute over decades, is no longer in a position to cause any dent in the overseas markets.
According to the Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association (BFFEA), 85 per cent of the shrimp exported from Bangladesh goes to the European countries, while 15 per cent goes to the US, Japan and others. EPB data show Bangladesh’s share in the world shrimp market has decreased from 4.0 to 2.0 per cent in the five years till 2021. During this time, shrimp exports have fallen by 33 per cent and production has shrunk by 28.5 per cent. As a result, frozen food – comprising mainly shrimp – once the third major export item of Bangladesh next to RMG, jute and jute goods, has now dropped to seventh position.
As mentioned already, the main reason for not being competitive is because of the low price of the shrimp variety-Vannamei (or white-leg shrimp), a disease-tolerant and high-yielding variety. The Vannamei variety, because of its high yield and low production cost, has already gained wide popularity capturing 77 per cent of global demand, according to reports. However, this variety did not receive government’s nod for commercial cultivation, presumably because of its low quality compared to the better and high priced varieties cultivated and exported from the country.