Avanti Feeds, Apex Frozen shares crash up to 19% on Trump's reciprocal tariffs

Shares of shrimp producers such as Avanti Feeds and Apex Frozen Foods came under heavy selling pressure on Thursday, April 3, after the US President Donald trump imposed 27% reciprocal tariff on Indian imports. Shares of Avanti Feeds fell as much as 19% on the BSE to hit an intraday low of ₹720 and Apex Frozen Foods dropped as much as 7.73% to hit an intraday low of ₹199.25.

Imposition of tariffs is a big negative for the shrimp producers. Analysts say that the new tariffs announced by President Trump will make Indian shrimps expensive in the US, likely halting supplies to US.

India’s marine exports amount to approximately ₹60,000 crore per year, with shrimp accounting for nearly ₹50,000 crore of this total. The United States is a key market, importing around ₹22,000 crore worth of marine products annually, experts said.

The situation is set to become more challenging with the newly proposed tariffs, which introduce a universal baseline tariff of 10%, along with an additional 27% reciprocal tariff on shrimp imports. The steep surge in duties could impact India’s shrimp exports, making them less competitive in the US market and forcing exporters to explore alternative strategies or new markets, experts at InCred added.

Avanti Feeds derives major chunk of its revenue from the United States according to a report by CNBC TV18, the company earned 69% of overall revenue from US markets in the December quarter which came down from 82% during the same period last year.

In the quarter ended December 2024, Avanti Feeds reported consolidated net profit of ₹135 crore, marking an increase of 87% from ₹72 crore in the same period last year. Its revenue from operations advanced 9% to ₹1,365.77 crore as against ₹1,253.23 crore in the year-ago period.

As of 12:43 pm, Avanti Feeds shares traded 17% lower at ₹738 and Apex Frozen Foods was down 4.89% at ₹205.40.