Summary:
Vietnam remains the leading shrimp supplier to Japan, whose total shrimp imports from January to October declined 3.7% in volume and 17.8% in value.
Japan shrimp imports decline; Vietnam top supplier
Vietnam remains the leading shrimp supplier to Japan, data from the International Trade Center (ITC) showed.
According to ITC, Thailand, Indonesia and India were the second-, third- and fourth-largest exporters of shrimp to Japan, the world's No. 3 shrimp importer, during the period January-October 2015.
Japan's shrimp imports during the period showed a year-on-year slump in both volume and value. In terms of volume and value, they reached 171,753 metric tonnes, down 3.7% year-on-year, and US$1.8 billion, down 17.8%.
The decline in shrimp imports was attributable to yen devaluation and higher prices. As the yen depreciated, Japanese processors had to spend much more to import shrimp. This resulted in higher prices for final products. However, due to the slowdown of the economy, consumers were not willing to spend more.
Starting in May, Japan steadily increased shrimp imports. October reported the highest results. The demand gets higher with the yearend holidays, when imports are expected to be also higher. Seafood expenditure for Japanese household rose 10% year-on-year to 160 yen per 100 grammes.
Japan used to be the top shrimp importer. In the mid-1990s it consumed half of the world's shrimp. Today the US is the world's top shrimp importer.
Top 6 shrimp suppliers to Japan, 2010 – 2015 (Value: US$ thousand) | ||||||
Origin |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
Jan- Oct 2015 |
Vietnam |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Thailand |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
India |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
Indonesia |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
China |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
Argentina |
12 |
8 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Main shrimp suppliers to Japan | ||||||
Supply |
Volume (MT) |
Value (US$thousand) | ||||
Jan-Oct 2014 |
Jan-Oct 2015 |
Variations (%) |
Jan-Oct 2014 |
Jan-Oct 2015 |
Variations (%) | |
The world |
178,418 |
171,753 |
-3.7 |
2,243,117 |
1,843,719 |
-17.8 |
Vietnam |
40,784 |
39,997 |
-1.9 |
566,182 |
462,294 |
-18.3 |
Thailand |
29,395 |
29,422 |
0.1 |
362,843 |
312,834 |
-13.8 |
Indonesia |
25,630 |
26,889 |
4.9 |
341,472 |
304,932 |
-10.7 |
India |
25,548 |
25,601 |
0.2 |
303,944 |
248,797 |
-18.1 |
China |
15,475 |
11,651 |
-24.7 |
158,857 |
106,188 |
-33.2 |
Argentina |
10,381 |
9,839 |
-5.2 |
109,041 |
89,098 |
-18.3 |
Canada |
4,860 |
4,755 |
-2.2 |
66,547 |
57,828 |
-13.1 |
Russia |
5,654 |
5,245 |
-7.2 |
79,115 |
51,062 |
-35.5 |
Myanmar |
4,788 |
3,931 |
-17.9 |
55,274 |
42,573 |
-23 |
Greenland |
|
|
|
33,541 |
26,361 |
-21.4 |
Source: vasep.com.vn |