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February Seafood Exports Indicate 20% Hike in Salmon

March 31, 2014

Preliminary trade statistics released by the Ministry of Finance on March 28 said that 35,775 tons of marine foods (fishmeal included) had been exported in February 2014. The number represents a reduction of 12.9 percent from a year ago. The average unit value was JPY 503 (€3.5/$4.9) per kg, up 60 percent from the same month last year, resulting therefore in a 38.5 percent hike in the total value to JPY 17.996 billion (€127 million/$174 million)

Salmon/ trout exports grew 23.4 percent to 3,382 tons; however, primary commodities as cod (down 19.4 percent), mackerel (down 12.3 percent) and saury (down 14.7 percent) all dropped. Squid also plummeted by 41.4 percent.

The amount of exported scallop slightly dropped by 1.4 percent; and yet the unit price significantly moved upward from JPY 568 to JPY 1,086 (€7.6/$10.5).

February Seafood Imports Plummet 17% to 143K Tons

March 31, 2014

The total amount of seafood, which includes fishmeal, imported in February 2014 added up to 143,314 tons, down 16.5 percent compared with the corresponding month a year ago. The average unit price was JPY 694/kg (€4.9/$6.7), an increase of 20 percent. The aggregate value went down by 2.3 percent, totaling JPY 99.519 billion (€700 million/$964 million). Last February 26,000 tons of salmon and trout was imported; however the number was down by half this time around. Items that exhibited steep declines in quantities were salmon/trout (14,000 tons), mackerel (down 55.8 percent), big-eye tuna (down 29 percent), squid (down 40.5 percent), and crab (down 24.8 percent). Fishmeal also followed suit and fell 35.2 percent.

In salmon and trout, Chilean coho salmon, which recorded about 13,000 tons in January 2013, were only half of that amount, 7,300 tons, or down 49 percent, in February 2014.

Conversely, bonito registered a fivefold increase. Bluefin (up 141.7 percent) and cod/English hake (up 20.6 percent) also hiked.

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