This year, Japan's imports of frozen cod from Russia have decreased by 80% in the first five months.

Before 2017, Japan imported around 15,000 tons of frozen cod from Russia annually.

During the period from 2018 to 2021, the import volume decreased to about 10,000 tons.

Since 2022, the import volume has further declined to around 5,000 tons.

The price increase is the main reason for this trend.

Since 2022, the import cost price of cod has significantly risen, prompting Japan to shift its imports from the United States to Russia, but since 2024, the price of cod supplied by Russia has skyrocketed, narrowing the cost difference with U.S. cod.

In 2019, Japan imported 6,386 tons of cod from the United States and 1,992 tons from Russia.

By 2022, due to the lower price of Russian cod, imports from the United States decreased to 687 tons, while imports from Russia increased to 4,745 tons.

This year, due to poor cod catches, global cod prices have surged. Trade data from January to May shows that the average price of U.S. cod was 828 yen per kilogram, with a 19% year-on-year decrease in imports to Japan, while the import price of Russian cod was 881 yen per kilogram, with a sharp 79% reduction in imports.