Japan has been sourcing more Atlantic bluefin tuna from Malta over the past five years. This trade is expected to be higher still this year in line with the EU’s quota of 12,813 metric tons (MT), which was 20 percent higher than in 2015 and 40 percent more than 2014.
Malta, Spain and Croatia are the bloc’s main exporters of Atlantic bluefin, accounting for 95 percent of the total volume, while Japan is by far the biggest importer with 90 percent of the trade.
According to the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA), exports from Malta, the world’s third-largest supplier of Atlantic bluefin to the Japanese market, have grown at an average rate of 25 percent annually between 2000 and 2015.
Meanwhile, Spain, the fourth largest supplier to Japan, has maintained a stable supply to the market for the last 15 years, and sixth-placed Croatia has steadily shipped less product after the trade peaked in 2006.
Although less significant than Japan, countries such as the United States and South Korea have increased in importance as export markets for EU-caught bluefin in the past five years, thereby decreasing the EU fleets’ dependence on the Japanese market.
EUMOFA confirmed the increase in export value on these new markets is the result of both volume and price growth. The average unit value of Atlantic bluefin exports to these countries in 2015 was EUR 20.18 (USD 22.18) per kg, compared with Japan’s average of EUR 13.51 (USD 14.85).
The emerging markets might indicate a further globalization of Japanese cuisine and that the growth potential for bluefin is limited in Japan compared to elsewhere, it said.
In 2015, the EU exported 10,428 MT of Atlantic bluefin, up from 10,125 MT in 2014 and 7,781 MT in 2013. The value of these exports reached EUR 148.7 million (USD 163.4 million) in 2015, compared to EUR 146.4 million (USD 160.9 million) and EUR 130.8 million (USD 143.7 million) in 2014 and 2013, respectively.
EU member states also imported 159 MT of the fish, worth more than EUR 1 million (USD 1.1 million) last year.
