US embassy cable - 05MAPUTO603

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 000603 
 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR AF/S - HTREGER, OES - JSTORY, EB 
MCC FOR SGAULL 
COMMERCE FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE SPECIALIST RTELCHIN 
PRETORIA FOR AG ATTACHE - SREYNOLDS AND RBICKFORD 
GABORONE PLEASE PASS TO SOUTHERN AFRICA GLOBAL 
COMPETITIVENESS HUB FOR AHILLIGAS 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, EINV, EFIS, MZ, AGOA 
SUBJECT: POTENTIAL AGOA SUCCESS FOR MOZAMBIQUE: 1200 TONS 
OF MOZAMBICAN SHRIMP TO BE SOLD IN THE U.S. MARKET IN 2005 
 
REF: MAPUTO 537 
 
1. SUMMARY. Indian Ocean Aquaculture (IOA), a 
multinational-owned and managed shrimp aquaculture firm in 
Mozambique, estimates that it will export up to 1200 tons of 
frozen shrimp to the U.S. in 2005. U.S. buyers of Mozambican 
shrimp include retail chains Tasty Choice and Wal-Mart. With 
U.S. seafood companies in search of new seafood suppliers in 
today's post-tsunami world, Mozambique is well-positioned to 
increase its export of high-quality shrimp in the near to 
mid-term. END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
BACKGROUND: THE RISE OF SHRIMP AQUACULTURE 
------------------------------------------ 
2. Mozambique's second largest export (in dollar terms) 
behind aluminum is seafood, including fresh or frozen shrimp 
and lobster. A majority of seafood export is sent to EU 
countries, particularly Spain. Other markets include India, 
East Asia, and increasingly the U.S. Trawler fleets, 
artisanal fishermen, and more recently shrimp aquaculture 
pioneers supply domestic and international customers. 
Although trawler fishermen cannot yet supply the U.S. market 
because they have not been certified for their use of turtle 
exclusion devices (TED), artisanal sellers have been selling 
small quantities of frozen shrimp and lobster to buyers in 
the U.S. since 2002. (NOTE: The National Marine Fisheries 
Service plans to visit Mozambique in late 2005 to assess 
whether trawlers should be granted TED certification. END 
NOTE). 
 
3. Recently, foreign investors have been investing heavily in 
shrimp aquaculture. Thanks to its long coastline (1600 
miles) and suitable tropical climate, Mozambique has 
tremendous shrimp farming potential. Three shrimp 
aquaculture enterprises are now in operation - one 
(Chinese-owned) in the central port city Beira, a second 
(French-owned) further up the coast in Quelimane, and a third 
(largely German-owned) in the northern town of Pemba. The 
Pemba shrimp operation, Indian Ocean Aquaculture (IOA), 
consists of a shrimp hatchery, an expanse of prawn farms, and 
a refurbished textile factory converted into a processing 
plant. IOA began exporting frozen aquaculture shrimp to 
India, France, Japan and the U.S. in 2004. According to 
Marcos Moya, Managing Director of IOA, the company shipped 
120 tons of shrimp to the U.S. last year. In 2005, he 
predicts, IOA will export ten times this amount, some 1,200 
tons of shrimp, to the United States. IOA sells directly to 
Tasty Choice in New York and to a buyer in Texas, who then 
distributes to five Wal-Mart locations around the U.S. 
 
4. Overall, Moya estimates IOA will supply nearly 6,000 tons 
of shrimp to the international market in 2005. Depending on 
their size, shrimp fetch anywhere from USD 2 to USD 4 per 
pound. Moya indicated that production is "good" and 
"growing" in Mozambique. 
 
------------------------------ 
INDIAN OCEAN AQUACULTURE (IOA) 
------------------------------ 
5. IOA management consists of a multinational mix of 
investors, researchers, biologists, and aquaculture experts 
from Germany, the Philippines, the U.K., the U.S., Chile, 
Fiji, and several other countries. Seventy percent of IOA is 
German-owned. Two American investors are IOA board members. 
One of the Americans, IOA's marketing director, frequently 
visits Mozambique from his home in Gainesville, Florida. IOA 
has approximately 500 Mozambican employees, making it the 
largest employer in Pemba. 
 
---------------------- 
AN AGOA SUCCESS STORY? 
---------------------- 
6. Comment: Mozambique has so far not taken advantage of 
AGOA, unlike some other countries in the region. Since 
AGOA's start in 2000, Mozambique has exported only a limited 
volume of garments (USD 2.2 million in 2004, for example), 
seafood, tobacco, cashew nuts, and other products. In 2004 
all Mozambican exports to the U.S. amounted to only USD 10.8 
million. If IOA's expectations are borne out, however, 
Mozambique's AGOA exports should increase dramatically -- 
perhaps by five or six million dollars. Coincidentally, now 
is a great time for Mozambican shrimp to enter the world 
market. In today's post-tsunami world, U.S. seafood 
companies and their competition elsewhere are having 
difficulty meeting demand with product from traditional 
exporters in Southeast Asia, and so are eager to import 
shrimp from a new source such as Mozambique. 
LA LIME