US wholesale: Latin-origin shrimp prices mostly lower in broad sell-off

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The US shrimp wholesale price assessments collected by Undercurrent News in week eight (Feb. 17-23) and published on Wednesday (Feb. 19) showed mixed price action.

Movements, however, were generally on trend. Latin-origin shell-on shrimp are soft, primarily headless, and continue to be broadly discounted. Some weaknesses also started to filter in Asian-origin white shrimp, but this category is more stable. Where changes occur in the black tiger category, they edge higher.  

Argentine red shrimp prices are unchanged this week. The market is looking for further developments for any changes. 

White shrimp — Latin origin 

The headless shell-on category saw spillover adjustments lower again this week. Interest has seemingly fallen off a cliff and any inventory is negotiable. While there was only a single change for head-on shell-on, it was also lower. Declining interest from China is pressuring the HOSO market. While this is higher priced inventory in storage, farmgate prices in Ecuador shift lower this week, which could help as US prices soften. 

While there were no changes in the peeled and deveined category, sentiment remains fully steady to firm. Interest is higher in this category than all others. 

White shrimp — Asian origin

Broader weakness did not spill over into the Asian headless shell-on, but there are concerns in the marketplace that prices will be pressured by broader dynamics. The 13/15 and 16/20 counts easy peel are discounted. There were no changes to the peeled and deveined market but product is looked for […]