Japan recedes, Malta bluefin tuna turns to China

For a long time, Japan has been the absolute core market for Malta's bluefin tuna. Reports indicate that around 90% of the bluefin tuna farmed in Malta in the past were exported to Japan, and a portion of these were processed and then re-exported to other countries. This highly concentrated niche market structure has supported the rapid expansion of Malta's tuna industry over the past decade. Data shows that over the ten years leading up to 2023, Malta's bluefin tuna production increased cumulatively by 242%, with a 77% increase in value, reaching 18,624 tons in 2023 with a value of approximately 167 million euros, significantly raising the weight of bluefin tuna in the EU aquaculture system. However, this single-market dependency quickly exposed risks when Japanese demand weakened. In 2024, Japan's total tuna imports amounted to 1.588 billion US dollars, a decrease of 14.2% from 2023. Among these, spending on tuna imports from Malta decreased noticeably, dragging down the overall ...