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Marine products shipment, the second biggest item in terms of agri-shipment after rice, continues to surge with overall exports rising to $3.65 billion in the April-August period of FY27, an increase of over 14.3% year-on-year.
In August, 2026, shipments of marine products including frozen shrimp varieties such as vannamei and tiger and frozen fish rose by 27% year-on-year to $0.76 million, according to a quick estimate by the commerce ministry.
Robust growth in exports to the United States, India’s biggest market, and diversification of shipments to the European Union (EU) and other countries has led to shipment growth in FY27 so far.
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A leading exporter said that seafood product shipment to the United States has been stable for the last several months. A year ago, the shipment was hit hard following the imposition of an effective tariff of 59.71% by the Donald Trump administration, which was subsequently reduced. Subsequently, Washington announced tariff reductions to 18%.
“Current effective import duty by the USA from India is currently being borne equally by both importers and exporters, thus we witness robust growth in shipments in the current fiscal,” P Jawahar, Chairman, Marine Products Export Development Authority, told FE. Jawahar said that export prospects to the US look robust as major consumer demand peaks from October onwards.
Despite being hit by the high US tariff last year, India’s marine products exports increased 14% year-on-year to a record $8.43 billion in FY26, thanks to a surge in shipments to several new markets such as Europe, China and Southeast Asia, an official said.
Last month, the European Union (EU) approved 21 additional Indian fishery establishments for exports, bringing the total units approved for shipment in the last one year to 123. Trade sources said that with the nod for the exports from these units, shipments will further boost, especially of aquaculture shrimp and cephalopods to the European market.
The number of EU-approved Indian fishery export units has increased to 625 and these are spread across Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Odisha and Maharashtra.
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The EU is the third-largest seafood export destination for India after China, accounting for over 15% of India’s total exports last fiscal. The major markets for Indian marine products shipments amongst EU member states are Belgium, Spain, and Italy.
“There has been a surge in exports of the fish meals used as feed and oils due to a spike in global prices while diversification of shipments to the EU, Vietnam, China and Russia has boosted overall shipments,” KN Raghavan, Secretary General, Seafood Exporters Association of India, had earlier said.
TOPICSexportsThis article was first uploaded on September sixteen, twenty twenty-six, at twenty-two minutes past eight in the night. © The Indian Express (P) Ltd