Russian king crab prices in Japan stage 70% jump from summer due to tightened fishing enforcement by Moscow
The wholesale price of Russian king crab are turning up in Japan as delivery of new-season products drastically decreased following the tightened enforcement against illegal fishing activities by the Russian government from this year.
The prices offered by trading firms and other sellers for the benchmark frozen king crab stand at slightly over Y2,000 per kilo, which marked an sizable increase of about 70% from the low in summer.
Market participants anticipate the upward tone of prices may continue for some time ahead, given the strong buyer demand in the United States.
Russian king crab imported to Japan until last year had exceeded largely the catch quota set by the Russian authorities, with the bulk of the catch apparently coming from illegal operation. Shipments of new-season products start every year from around September.
A Japanese trading company official predicted that supply to Japan this year will be reduced to nearly one tenth of last year because rigorous enforcement on illegal fishing was implemented.
Japanese buyers have now been losing out to U.S. traders in the purchase of Russian king crab due principally to the yen's downtrend against the dollar.
A processor in Abashiri, Hokkaido, voiced his concern that there might be supply shortage of king crab around the end-of-the-year season, by far the most important sales period in Japan. In the past months, there were period when sales price of the king crab moves downward.
Around the end of last year, last-minute buying in anticipation of the tightening of fishing regulation caused a rapid increase in imports.
As a result, the wholesale price plunged to around Y1,200 per kilo toward last summer, with many dealers procuring the crab at drastically low prices.
At one point, the lowest price for mail-order sales plunged more than Y500 from a year earlier to around Y2,000 for 800 grams.
King crab sales will soon go into full swing in Japan as shipments of Alaskan king crab are about to start in coming weeks