Japan Strives to Stabilize the Market Position of Scallops and Sea Cucumbers in China

Japan's Fishery industry hopes to maintain the production capacity of high-end seafood that Chinese consumers like. Japan's Hokkaido is the main production and export area of high-end products such as scallops and sea cucumbers, which meets the growing market demand.

In 2022, the export volume of Japanese seafood will exceed 300 billion yen, about 2.14 billion dollars, 2.3 times that of 10 years ago. In China, sea cucumber is considered as a luxury, known as "Carbonado". In 2022, Japan exported 20 billion yen worth of sea cucumber products. Back in 2013, 90% of Japan's sea cucumber products were sold to Hong Kong, China. In recent years, Chinese Mainland has become its main export destination. In 2022, 65% of Japanese sea cucumbers will be exported to the market of Chinese Mainland, surpassing that of Hong Kong. Although 70% of dried sea cucumbers will still be sold to Hong Kong, the vast majority of pickled and frozen sea cucumbers will be exported to mainland China. The price of dried Japanese sea cucumbers exceeds 70000 yen per kilogram, about 493.5 US dollars. In contrast, the price of pickled and frozen sea cucumbers has always hovered around 20000 yen, about 141 US dollars. The export volume of Japanese dried sea cucumber has decreased from over 200 tons in 2012 to 150 tons in 2022. Hokkaido is one of Japan's largest sea cucumber production areas, and in 2022, the county produced approximately 1500 tons of sea cucumber, accounting for nearly 30% of the total national production. Local traders have stated that pickled sea cucumbers have replaced dried sea cucumbers as the main export product.