Feed price growth threatens the profitability of shrimp farms

President of the All India Shrimp Hatcheries Association Ravikumar Yellanki reported that feed prices have increased against the backdrop of the El Niño impact on the market of key agricultural and marine raw materials. Weather anomalies in producing regions have reduced the availability and driven up prices of fish meal, fish oil, soybean meal, and other feed components. Feed manufacturers themselves are also suffering from reduced margins as they cannot fully pass on the increase in raw material costs to buyers.

Additional pressure on aquaculture farms is created by unseasonal rains and warm water, which provoke an increase in Vibrio bacteria levels. This worsens shrimp health, feed conversion, survival rate, and overall farm productivity. At the same time, feed costs are rising without a proportional increase in revenue from shrimp sales, the prices of which remain low due to overproduction in Ecuador and global market oversupply.

According to industry data, shrimp feed prices jumped by 10–16 rubles per kg, ranging from approximately 1,20,000 to 1,75,000 rubles per tonne depending on the brand and characteristics. The cost of feed for tiger shrimp increased by 12 rubles per kg, exceeding an average of 1,22,000 rubles per tonne. Considering that producing one tonne of shrimp requires 1.3 to 1.7 tonnes of feed (and more in ponds with diseases), total production costs exceed 2.8 lakh rubles per tonne.

Despite the difficulties, Indian shrimp export supplies are holding at a good level: demand in other foreign markets helps maintain export momentum even against the backdrop of a declining position in the US market.