Exports of Japanese seafood to China plummeted by 91%.
Exports to Hong Kong have actually doubled.
Scallop exports to the U.S. also increased tenfold.
Total exports of marine products in September increased by 2.7%
On the 19th, at the Port of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, experts in the nuclear field from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and China, Korea, and Canada are examining the level of radioactive contamination of freshly caught Japanese flounder. 2023.10.19 [사진 = 로이터 연합뉴스]
As China completely banned the import of Japanese seafood, the amount of Japanese seafood exported to mainland China plummeted last month. However, as exports to Hong Kong and the United States increased significantly, Japan’s total export amount of marine products actually increased last month.
On the 7th, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced that Japan’s seafood exports to China in September fell 90.8% compared to the same period last year, reaching 800 million yen. Marine products that China imported in large quantities before the discharge of contaminated water, such as sea cucumbers, scallops, and tuna, were not traded.
In particular, scallops from Hokkaido were hit hard. Last September, the amount of scallops exported from Japan to China amounted to 5.3 billion yen. Chinese fishermen have established factories in their country, imported Japanese scallops, processed them, and exported them to the United States and other countries.
However, on August 24, the Chinese government completely banned the import of Japanese seafood in response to the discharge of contaminated water (Japanese name: treated water) from Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, and the export amount of scallops in September this year recorded ‘0’. Most of the 800 million yen of marine products exported to China were products for purposes other than food, such as pearls, corals, and carp.
The amount of seafood handled at the Tokyo Central Wholesale Market in September also decreased by 0.6% compared to the same period last year, reaching 36,068.11 million yen. Shellfish such as scallops, which are in high demand in China, decreased by 5.2%, and frozen fish such as yellowtail decreased by 4.5%.
Despite this situation, Japan’s total seafood export volume last month was 33 billion yen, an increase of 2.7% compared to the same period last year. Compared to August exports (approximately 28.8 billion yen), it increased by 14% in one month. The increase in exports to Hong Kong and the United States was effective.
Last month, exports of Japanese marine products to Hong Kong amounted to 12.6 billion yen, up 86.9% from the same period last year. Unlike China, where the import of Japanese seafood is completely banned, Hong Kong has designated only 10 local governments, including Fukushima and Miyagi Prefecture, as ‘import bans’ out of 47 metropolitan local governments across Japan. Therefore, marine products from regions that are not subject to the import ban, such as Hokkaido, can be imported.
In particular, Japanese scallops, which had zero exports to mainland China, were exported to Hong Kong, and the export amount over the past month was 1.7 billion yen, a 48.8% increase compared to the same period last year.
Despite the embargo, exports of all Japanese marine products, including scallops, to Hong Kong increased for two consecutive months. In August, it was 6.9 billion yen, a 15.5% increase compared to the same period last year, and exports last month reached 12.6 billion yen, an 86.9% increase compared to the same period last year.
The amount of Japanese seafood exported to the United States last month was 5.8 billion yen, an increase of 101.5% compared to the same period last year. In particular, scallops exported to the United States increased tenfold to 2 billion yen.
As its ally Japan faces China’s seafood embargo, the United States appears to be responding jointly by increasing imports of Japanese seafood. On the 30th of last month, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel announced that the U.S. military in Japan would purchase Japanese seafood, such as scallops, through long-term contracts with Japanese fisheries companies. Previously, the U.S. military had never purchased seafood from Japan.
Ambassador Emanuel assessed China’s embargo on Japanese seafood as part of an “economic war.” He said that the U.S. military’s purchase of Japanese seafood was part 2 of ‘Operation Tomodachi (Friend)’ and that “we will continue to support the Japanese fishing industry that has been embargoed by China.” The U.S. military has already purchased 1 ton of scallops from Hokkaido, and it is known that they plan to gradually increase the type and amount of seafood purchased in the future.
Some interpret the U.S.’s actions as a contrast to its passive response in 2016, when Korea faced large-scale retaliatory measures from China on trade following the decision to deploy THAAD.
Asahi and other Japanese media analyzed seafood export statistics in September, saying, “It appears that the effect of switching the export destination from China has gradually appeared.” Thanks to the robust export of marine products, Japan’s agricultural, forestry and fishery product exports last month, including agricultural products, recorded 117.6 billion yen, a 3.1% increase compared to the same period last year, turning upward for the first time in three months.
However, concerns about China’s seafood embargo in the Japanese fishing industry have not subsided. Regarding this, Professor Sachiko Harada of Tokyo Maritime University told the Nippon Keizai Shimbun, “Import restrictions due to political reasons may occur again in the future. “We must avoid situations where producers and processing and distribution companies are swayed every time,” she said.
2023-11-08 11:52:30
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