Aquagold was jointly established by four Ecuadorian farmers, with an investment of approximately $52 million in a value-added product processing plant in Guayas Province.
In an interview with UCN, Aquagold CEO Atilio Solano stated: "Most exporters have a proportion between 55% and 60% in the Chinese market, while we only have 30% to 40%. We believe the future direction is to further develop mature markets, specifically Europe and the United States, because prices are more stable there."
"As producers, the European and American markets are exactly what we aspire to. We do not want to participate in risky games or speculative games with fluctuating prices. The Chinese market is much more flexible in quality parameters and pricing, while the European situation is different, and the United States presents yet another landscape." Solano said the company is further advancing into the EU market, developing more products that align with Western country consumption, including cooked shrimp and other value-added products.
Aquagold's actual controlling entity owns over 10,000 hectares of farms, with a raw material self-sufficiency rate exceeding 85%.
In May this year, Ecuadorian white shrimp exports reached a new historical high, with export volumes of 151,521 tons, a year-on-year increase of 21.3% and a month-on-month increase of 31.6%. The Chinese market remains the primary destination, accounting for 54% of exports.
Solano stated that in May, the company processed and exported 10 million pounds of shrimp products, with 43% sold to China, 22% to the United States, 30% to Europe, and the remaining 5% to other markets. They expect monthly export volumes between 12 million and 15 million pounds in the second half of the year.
Additionally, starting August 1st, the United States will impose higher tariffs on Asian countries, with Vietnam at 20%, Indonesia at 19%; if no agreement is reached by the deadline, Thailand's tariffs will rise to 36%, and India's to 26% (with an additional 10% BRICS countries tariff).
Solano said: "Even before tariffs, more and more US buyers have been turning their attention to Ecuador, and these additional