Japanese Import Volume of Frozen Whole Big-Eye Tuna Rose 7% YoY in January-November 2022

Published 2023년 1월 5일

Japanese imports of frozen whole big-eye tuna rose 7% YoY in volume and 44% YoY in value in January-November 2022. Imports from Namibia rose over 1000% YoY to gain considerable market share. Part of the increase was due to the difficulty and higher cost of obtaining fresh fish which is generally preferred to frozen.

Japanese import volume of frozen whole big-eye tuna rose 7% year-over-year (YoY) in January-November 2022. In terms of value, imports rose 44% YoY, as the average import price jumped 34% YoY. Japanese import volume of frozen whole big-eye tuna in Jan-Nov 2022 was 41.5 thousand mt, with a total worth of JPY 43.2 billion. The average price was JPY 1,018/kg.

Source: Tridge and Japan Customs

Import volume from most major origins experienced YoY growth, excluding China and the Seychelles. Import volume from Taiwan, the largest origin by far, climbed 11% YoY. Taiwan's share in Japan's import market climbed from 56% in Jan-Nov 2021 to 58% in Jan-Nov 2022. China was the second largest origin, but lost considerable market share,from 18% of the total in the previous period to 14%, as imports dropped 19% YoY. Imports from the Seychelles, the third largest origin, dropped 4% YoY and their market share dropped to 12% from a 13% previously. Meanwhile, imports from Vanuatu climbed 37% YoY, making it the fourth largest origin, with a market share of 8%. It's worth mentioning that imports from Namibia experienced the fastest growth, climbing 1009% YoY, driving the African country to become the 6th largest origin, with 1% of the total share.

According to Anna Mochizuki, Tridge representative in Japan, part of the increase in imports of frozen big-eye tuna is the difficulty and higher cost of getting fresh fish during 2022. Indeed, the import volume of fresh whole big-eye tuna in Jan-Nov 2022 declined 50% YoY to 785 mt, with a total worth of JPY 1.04 billion (-34% YoY). The average import price was JPY 1,325/kg, up 33% YoY.

The higher water temperature in coastal areas in East Asia as well as higher seismic activity has made fresh tuna catching more difficult. Since before the pandemic, the relative lack of fish near the land has also impacted the available workforce to get fresh tuna (there are now fewer fresh-fish sea captains), as it’s difficult to change to fishing farther away from the land due to the difference between getting fresh fish compared to frozen. This has also impacted the origin of imports, with a growing preference for African frozen fish, which can be seen in Namibia’s meteoric increase in Japan’s market share.

Japan is, by far, the largest frozen big-eye tuna importer in the world, with imports in 2021 totaling 43 thousand mt out of an estimated 110 thousand mt globally. Big-eye tuna is mostly consumed as sashimi and sushi.