India seafood exports jump
- India’s marine-product exports rose to a record ₹72,325 crore in FY26, driven largely by shrimp and market diversification. - The surge reflects exporters finding new buyers and expanding market reach despite global shipping disruption. - Growth suggests some suppliers are adapting commercially rather than withdrawing, offering potential sourcing alternatives for seafood categories. (business-standard.com)
India shipped a record ₹72,325.82 crore of seafood in fiscal 2025-26, even as U.S. tariffs and West Asia shipping disruption hit global trade. (business-standard.com) The Marine Products Export Development Authority, or MPEDA, said provisional exports reached 1.93 million tonnes in the year ended March 31, 2026. Frozen shrimp brought in ₹47,973.13 crore, or more than two-thirds of total marine-export earnings. (business-standard.com) The United States stayed India’s biggest seafood market at $2.32 billion, but shipments there fell 19.8% by volume and 14.5% by value. Exporters made up the gap with higher sales in China, the European Union and Southeast Asia, according to MPEDA data cited by Business Standard and the India Brand Equity Foundation. (business-standard.com, ibef.org) Seafood is one of India’s large farm-and-food export businesses, and shrimp is its main dollar earner. When shrimp sales hold up, processors, hatcheries, feed makers, cold stores and ports all get more throughput. (mpeda.gov.in, business-standard.com) This jump came during a year when carriers rerouted vessels around the Red Sea and exporters faced higher freight bills and softer demand in some markets. Business Standard reported Indian suppliers kept cargo moving by rerouting shipments, using alternate logistics corridors and widening their buyer base. (business-standard.com) The government has also spent the past year trying to widen access beyond a few core markets. A Press Information Bureau summary carried by IBEF said India approved 211 new export establishments for markets including the European Union, the United Kingdom, China, Russia and Brazil, while adding a National Traceability Framework in 2025 and other compliance steps. (ibef.org, pib.gov.in) The product mix broadened too. IBEF said frozen fish, squid, cuttlefish and dried items posted growth, and five ports — Visakhapatnam, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Kochi, Kolkata and Chennai — handled nearly 64% of export value. (ibef.org) MPEDA’s own site shows how unusual the latest number is: the authority has published annual export-performance reports for decades, including a 2024-25 report posted on March 27, 2026. The new FY26 figure extends that run to a fresh high, with shrimp still doing most of the lifting and newer markets doing more of the balancing. (mpeda.gov.in, business-standard.com)
