Frozen Shrimp (Vannamei & Black Tiger)

Vannamei and black tiger by presentation, count, glaze and residue test

Frozen shrimp is bought on four things before price: species, presentation, count and net weight. Whiteleg shrimp (vannamei, Litopenaeus vannamei) is the farmed volume species from Ecuador, India, Indonesia and Viet Nam; black tiger (Penaeus monodon) is the larger, dearer farmed species, and Argentine red shrimp (Pleoticus muelleri) is the main wild-caught line. Raw frozen shrimp falls under HS 0306.17 and cooked or otherwise prepared shrimp under HS 1605.21 and 1605.29. The presentations run from HOSO (head on, shell on) through HLSO (headless, shell on), PUD (peeled undeveined), PD (peeled and deveined), PDTO (peeled and deveined, tail on) and EZ peel (shell on, split and deveined) to cooked, and each is graded by count - HLSO per pound (16/20, 21/25, 26/30, 31/40), HOSO and peeled lines often per kilo. Glaze is declared and the buyer pays on net weight after deglazing, as Codex CXS 92-1981 for quick frozen shrimps and prawns requires; a soaking agent or phosphate is declared, and sulphite used against black spot must be declared and labelled. Lots are block frozen in 6x2 kg masters or semi-IQF and IQF in 10x1 kg masters, at -18°C or colder. Every lot is tested for antibiotic residues, nitrofuran metabolites and chloramphenicol above all, which the EU checks against reference points for action under Regulation (EU) 2019/1871 and which lead to border rejections in the US, Japan and the Gulf. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 0306.17 total USD 16.36 bn across 104 reporters: Ecuador 1,084k MT for USD 6.23 bn (USD 5.75/kg), India 666k MT for USD 4.31 bn (USD 6.47/kg), Argentina 147k MT (USD 6.40/kg), Indonesia 135k MT (USD 8.00/kg) and Thailand 56k MT (USD 9.61/kg). Viet Nam did not report 2024 figures to Comtrade and is read in its own customs data; under HS 1605.29 China, India and Thailand lead cooked and value-added exports.

The buyer is an importer, distributor, retail chain, foodservice group or reprocessor in the European Union, the UK, the US, Japan, China, the Gulf or Southeast Asia, and it specifies the species, presentation, count, glaze, treatment and the documents its border will ask for. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers frozen raw and cooked shrimp from Ecuadorian, Indian, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai and Argentine packers and traders against the competent-authority health certificate, the packer's certificate of analysis for residues and sulphite, a surveyor's check of count, net weight, glaze and core temperature at stuffing, and the origin file for the destination: farm, hatchery and feed records and ASC or BAP certification where the buyer asks for them on farmed shrimp; the EU catch certificate for wild-caught shrimp into the EU; the DS-2031 declaration for the US, which for wild-caught shrimp shows harvest under turtle protection rules approved under Section 609; and harvest and chain-of-custody data for the US Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP). Every lot is species-declared and certifiable as halal by the destination's accepted certifier; the seafood book is fish and shrimp only, with no crab, lobster, oysters, other shellfish or molluscs. Cargo moves in 40-ft high-cube reefer containers at -18°C or colder on FOB, CFR and CIF terms, with reefer freight quoted through the lines and forwarders; this is a container trade and LaycanDesk, our chartering desk, does not come into it. Send the species, presentation, count, glaze and net weight basis, packing and discharge port and we will work an origin and a price per net kilo to it.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.