The Japanese Ministry of Finance released provisional trade statistics for February 2020 that showed seafood imports from most regions and countries sharply down.
The report showed overall imports of “fish and fish preparation” at 115,989 metric tons (MT) for February, down from February of last year by 17.7 percent. The value was JPY 87.1 billion (USD 808.4 million, EUR 743.9 million), down by 21 percent.
The decline was likely due to disruption of production and shipping associated with coronavirus lockdowns around the world, and with a subsequent reduction in Japanese eating meals out.
Imports from the United States declined 12 percent by weight, to 6,052 MT, and 4.5 percent by value, to JPY 3.8 billion (USD 35.3 million, EUR 32.5 million).
The European Union exported 36.3 percent less fish and fish preparation, down 18.6 percent in value to 6,052 MT valued at JPY 4.6 billion (USD 42.7 million, EUR 39.3 million). The drop was not due to Brexit, as E.U. law, including the international commitments made between the E.U. and third countries will apply to the UK during the one-year transition period through January 2021. So the U.K. was still included in the E.U. figure.
Imports from Asia fell 21.2 percent, to 57,864 MT, or 29.8 percent by value, to JPY 40.8 billion (USD 378.7 million, EUR 348.5 million). Within this, China’s exports were off by 36.9 percent by weight, or 17,829 MT, and 40.6 percent by value, to JPY 11.5 billion (USD 106.7 million, EUR 98.2 million), reflecting the widespread disturbance to industry there.
The Republic of Korea exported about the same amount, but prices were off sharply, indicating lower demand. South Korea’s volume decline was just 1 percent to 4,416 MT, but down 21.7 percent in value, or JPY 3.6 billion (USD 33.4 million, EUR 30.8 million).
Japanese imports of fish and fish preparation from ASEAN were lower by 16.9 percent, at 25,634 MT, or 17.8 percent down in value, to JPY 18.4 billion (USD 170.8 million, EUR 157.2 million).
Imports from Russia were up in weight by 2 percent, to 5,629 MT, but the value, at JPY 7 billion (USD 65 million, EUR 598 million), was down 31.6 percent. As for South Korea, this may indicate that the supply is stable, but Japanese demand is off.
Photo courtesy of PixHound/Shutterstock
