Bangladesh shrimp exports to Europe soar as it turns away from US market SEAFOODNEWS.COM [The Financial Express]  by Faruque Ahmed  Aug 13, 2014  Shrimp export to the United States from Bangladesh have almost been cut in half over the past several years, while Bangladesh's overall  shrimp exports volume reached an all­time high last year.  This was due to a steady flow of shrimp to the European market, the industry sources said.   Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) officials confirmed the state of external trade Tuesday. They listed  several factors which contributed to the fall of trade on the US market and the rise on the EU market that propped  up the country's shrimp export.  Shrimp exports fetched US$ 638 million in the fiscal 2013­-14 as against $543 million in the previous  fiscal year.  The breakthrough last year came, the sources said, against the backdrop of a highly depressed market for  Bangladesh in the past several years.  The sources said major exporters like China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and India from Asia had outpaced  Bangladesh in price competition for many years as they were shipping low­cost white shrimps, as opposed to the black tiger shrimp grown in Bangladesh.  But, suddenly, many of them faced with crop failures due to disease and flooding. And these adversities led to a supply shortfall on the global market.  Bangladesh stepped forward to fill the vacuum and fed the European market, often at 20 to 30 percent higher  prices....