Nikkei saw difficulty in Japan's refusal to import Russian crabs

In Japan, after the introduction of US sanctions against RUSSIA , the import of Russian crab is growing, because of this the cost of crab MEAT on the market is falling, writes Nikkei. The publication's source suggested that trade with Russia will only increase

Due to a sharp increase in imports of Russian crab, the cost of crab meat in Japan has fallen, Nikkei Asia reports. According to the publication, in the first three quarters of 2023, Russia’s share of crab imports in Japan amounted to 68.8% (in 2021 - 5%, last year - 64.8%). During this time , Japan imported crab worth 35.8 billion yen (about $244 million), while products worth 24.6 billion yen ($167 million) came from Russia.

On the wholesale market, the cost of snow crab caught in Russia averages about 2 thousand yen ($14) per kilogram, which is 33% less than last year’s average, Nikkei notes. The influx of imported Russian crab has also led to an increase in supplies to Japan, causing prices for crab meat from CANADA and Norway to decline.

At the same time, Japanese-caught crab remains a luxury item, with its wholesale price up 20% from last year. “Consumers perceive locally caught crab as a different product from imported ones, so we do not see competition between them,” a source familiar with the market told the publication.

Nikkei attributes the current situation to the introduction of sanctions against Russia, in particular the US embargo on the import of Russian seafood, introduced in March last year. According to the newspaper's industry source, the United States was the largest consumer of Russian crab meat. After the ban was introduced, Russia reoriented crab exports to Asian markets, including Japan.

it is noted that Japan, as part of sanctions against Russia, increased the tariff on Russian seafood in April last year. However, there is no threat of a ban on wholesale imports of these products, despite the fact that they are luxury goods. According to a representative of the Japan Fisheries Agency, the addition of Russian crab to the blacklist "will have a big impact on the Japanese seafood processing industry."

The publication writes that in Japan there is a movement for a voluntary refusal to purchase Russian seafood, however, most likely, it will not be possible to completely abandon imports from Russia, since crab stocks in Alaska have decreased, and the fishing of some species has been prohibited in the fishing areas of the Bering Sea and the Aleutian Sea. islands from 2022.

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“Despite the political risks, trade with Russia is likely to increase in the future,” a market source told Nikkei. “Distributors’ livelihoods are at stake.”

Moscow considers anti-Russian sanctions illegitimate.