China has imported zero Japanese scallops since September 2023. China has increased imports from Asia and South America. By country, Indonesia increased its imports of mollusks, including scallops, from September 2023 to July 2024, with a 42% increase, Argentina soared to 2.8 times, and the UK increased to 2.5 times.
China opposes the discharge of treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant of Tokyo Electric Power Company into the ocean and stops importing aquatic products from Japan. As of August 24, it has been a year. China has imported zero scallops, one of Japan’s main exports, since September 2023. At the same time, China is increasing its purchases of aquatic products from other parts of Asia and South America.
Statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China show that from September 2023 to July 2024, shortly after the ban on Japanese aquatic products began, China’s total imports of aquatic products in US dollars decreased by 10% compared with the same period last year. By category, mollusks, including scallops, decreased by 11%, and fresh fish decreased by 4%.
Before the treatment of water discharge, China imported a large amount of aquatic products such as scallops from Japan. From January to August 2023, the import value of Japanese aquatic products was US$290 million, and it was almost zero after September of the same year.
The sources of China’s increased imports are Asia and South America. Looking at the import of mollusks including scallops from September 2023 to July 2024 by country, Indonesia increased by 42% year-on-year. Argentina increased by 2.8 times, and the UK increased by 2.5 times.
Nishihama Toru, chief economist of Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, pointed out that “when the Sino-US trade friction led to a decrease in imports from the United States, China increased imports from South America, and this trend is similar.”
The Japanese government tried to improve the situation, and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa asked Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and Foreign Minister, to lift the embargo. The Japanese government will continue to negotiate with the Chinese government, but there is no solution in sight.
Japanese related companies are exploring export channels to replace China. In Hokkaido, which accounts for about 90% of Japan’s national scallop production, exports to the United States and Southeast Asia have increased. Data from Hakodate Customs in Hokkaido shows that from January to June 2024, scallop exports to the United States were 3.6 billion yen, twice the same period last year, and exports to Vietnam were 3.1 billion yen, about 10 times the same period last year.
From the perspective of Japan as a whole, scallop exports from January to June fell 37% to 24 billion yen due to the Chinese embargo. The United States replaced China as the country with the largest number of Japanese scallop exports.
In Hokkaido, there is also a trend of shifting from fishing sluggish aquatic products to scallop processing. Local company Maruden plans to use freezing equipment in the spring of 2025 to promote exports to Southeast Asia and other places.