Supplies of live sea urchins are more active and at higher prices

The activity of imports of live sea urchins to Japan in June turned out to be higher than last year, Megafishnet.com reports.

Despite the fact that there was no large increase in the volume of supplies in comparison to May, the value of imports rose very strongly due to a significant price increase. Approximately the same picture of a live sea urchin imports, the supply of which was still represented by almost only Russian products, was recorded for the entire first half of this year, so that the results of sales to the Japanese market this year for Russian producers are quite good.

The total imports volume, which in April climbed to the level of 1.0 thousand tons and more, in May and June was limited to about 0.70 thousand tons. At the same time, in April the increase in the volume compared to last year reached 66%, in May it was limited to less than 9%, and in June it was only about 3%. Nevertheless, according to the results of the first half of the year, the total volume of Japanese imports of the live sea urchin increased by a rather noticeable 3% and reached more than 4.65 thousand tons.

In terms of money, the results of deliveries in the first half of the year generally look excellent, since the total value of imports increased by almost 25% and reached almost JPY 5.19 billion (CIF). This, even taking into account the accelerated depreciation of the yen in the second quarter, corresponds to about US$ 48.4 million and at least JPY 1.0 billion more than in the first half of 2020.

Such a significant increase in imports revenue was actually possible only due to the powerful price rise. In March, the average import price exceeded last year's by 12%, approaching the level of JPY1,120 / kg (more than US$ 10.40 / kg at average March exchange rate), in April it rose to JPY1,130 / kg (more than US$ 10.30 / kg at April average exchange rate) and turned out to be 61% higher than last year, in May it decreased by only 2% and remained at the level of JPY1,100 / kg (about US$ 10.20 / kg at May average exchange rate), exceeding last year's by 12%. In June, the average import price fell by more than 3% and dropped to almost JPY1,070 / kg (about US$ 9.80 / kg at June average exchange rate), but this is almost YPY300 / kg higher than the 2020 level.