TOKYO (Nikkei)--Japanese food exports are losing ground in overseas markets to Chinese and South Korean rivals.
Large quantities of frozen tuna are stored in gigantic refrigerators at a tuna market in the Chinese city of Yantai and shipped to markets around the world.
The products from Japan are mainly high-end items for consumers willing to pay premiums for high quality. China's growing presence in the international food market can be symbolized by the so-called "China tuna trade center," a private tuna market established in 2009 in the city of Yantai.
Some 10,000 metric tons of frozen tuna caught by Chinese fishing boats are stored in six huge refrigerators at the market, where about 5,000 tons of tuna are sold annually. Trading houses from Japan and Europe come to the center to buy tuna. "We're going to build an international brand for China's tuna exports," said Meng Fanyong, the center's CEO.
Wholesale prices of tuna sold at the market are set every day by reference to the prices set through auctions at Shimizu Port in Shizuoka Prefecture. "We don't sell cheap," said Meng. "We keep our prices close to those in Japan (to build a brand)." Half of the tuna sold at the Yantai market goes to Japan, with 20-30% shipped to Europe and South Korea.
Dwindling difference
Many Japanese food brands are now being threatened by competition from countries like China and
South Korea. One key market for this battle is Hong Kong, which imports most of it food.
December is when strawberry wars erupt at supermarkets in Hong Kong. Strawberries grown in Japan are sold at 120 HK dollars (about 1,200 yen) per pack, against 70 HK dollars (about 700 yen) for those imported from South Korea.
Japanese-grown strawberries have a reputation for being more lustrous and sumptuous. But production techniques in other countries have improved significantly, said Dennis Wu, president of Aji-No-Chinmi Co., a Hong Kong food trader. The gap in quality between Japanese farm products and those from other countries has narrowed, according to Wu.
This year, peaches grown in China were more delicious than those imported from Japan, said Wu. If this is true, then it is no surprise that Chinese peaches sold at 25 HK dollars for a pack of three have been attracting more buyers than peaches produced in Japan, which are priced at 50 HK dollars each.
Even Japanese exports of Fuji apples, a variety developed in Japan, are struggling to hold their own against foreign competition.
About 80% of Fuji apples sold at supermarkets in Hong Kong are imports from China. They are priced at around 3-4 HK dollars each, one-third that of Japanese-grown apples. Wu said there is no reason for consumers to pay higher prices for Fuji apples from Japan. Disaster impact
The days are gone when Japanese Fuji apples enjoyed a special status as a premium brand. Japanese food exports have also been hurt by the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which generated both legitimate and unfounded concerns about the safety of Japanese food products.
Japanese food exports to other Asian countries fell 7.9% in November from a year earlier to 24.1 billion yen, according to preliminary trade data released Wednesday by the Finance Ministry. With global demand for food growing rapidly, however, there is no reason for pessimism about the future of Japanese food exports, said Hiromi Isa, a trade office director at the Fisheries Agency.
"There are business opportunities (for Japanese food products) not just in China but also in other developing countries," said Isa. "We should overcome the damage from harmful rumors (related to the nuclear accident) and move ahead with pride in Japanese food brands." -- Translated from an article by Nikkei staff writer Hisashi Tsutsui
(The Nikkei Dec. 23 morning edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Overfishing is contributing to the depletion of marine resources in China, sending the nation's seafood prices soaring.
Marine products are in short supply at Shanghai Oriental International Fisheries Center Market in China, where fish consumption continues to rise.
In June, one seafood wholesaler expanded its sales space for fruits and vegetables at a wholesale market in Qingdao, Shandong Province. The company used the new 10-sq.-meter space to display Chinese cabbage, assorted greens and other vegetables. "It's becoming increasingly difficult to get marine products," a company official said. "We have to make money by selling vegetables."
The price of butterfish, for example, has doubled from two years ago to approximately 130 yuan (1,440 yen) per kilogram. "Companies have started to notice that fish prices are soaring and we are running out of seafood," said an executive at Shanghai Oriental International Fisheries Center Market.
Too efficient
According to data published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the annual fisheries catch in China -- including marine products such as herring, sardines and bonito, but excluding farmed fish -- fell roughly 10% on the year to 4.08 million metric tons in 2009. In response to sliding fish stocks, Chinese fishermen have even resorted to catching younger fish with round haul nets.
In Southeast Asia, meanwhile, marine resources also continue to decline. In particular, catches of golden threadfin bream, a fish used to prepare "kamaboko," a popular processed food in Japan, is falling sharply because younger golden threadfin bream are being caught with fine-mesh nets. Prices for exports of golden threadfin bream from Southeast Asia to Japan have risen about 20% from two years ago to about 300 yen per kilogram. "Many fishermen are not particularly concerned about overfishing," said Prof. Masahiro Yamao, who researches the Asian fisheries industry at Hiroshima University. "But we need to increase marine resources in Asia."
Supply-demand conditions have tightened, causing seafood prices to surge throughout Asia, but there is another reason for these developments. Many fishery businesses in Asia are so small they often deliberately overfish for short-term profits.
Further south
Seafood processors, meanwhile, are increasingly moving into Southeast Asia. "International bonito prices are determined in Thailand," said one official at a Japanese trading house.
About 550,000 tons of canned tuna, which is sometimes used as a bonito substitute, was produced in Thailand in 2009, accounting for roughly half of global production. The international market for bonito has developed in Thailand because seafood processors are drawn to the Southeast Asian country's inexpensive labor costs.
In Thailand, bonito is currently delivered to major customers for 2,000 dollars per ton, three times higher than 10 years ago. Southeast Asia is now a major producer of farmed shrimp, with local seafood processors as well as Chinese and U.S. trading houses being major buyers of farmed shrimp from the region.
One official at Nosui Corp., a seafood trading company, said: "Japan has been a major consumer of marine products. But if Asian countries become major buyers, Japan will have less purchasing power in seafood."
(The Nikkei Dec. 22 morning edition )
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Just 60% of Japanese companies' expect to restore their Thai production bases to pre-flood levels within the next half year, according to a recent poll.
Already in the dry season, the flood waters have receded in the Southeast Asian country, but it will take a while to repair and rebuild damaged factories.
According to the survey, which the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry conducted between Nov. 30 and Dec. 7, 35% of the 67 companies in 13 industries said they do not know when they can restart production at their Thai facilities. But 24% expected production to resume within three months.
Meanwhile, 80-90% of their manufacturing bases outside Thailand, including Japan and other countries, that have been impacted by parts shortages and other consequences of the floods will likely return to normal operations within six months.
The proportion of companies that see the flooding pushing down their operating profits came to 44% for the materials sector, 24% for the processing sector and 10% for the retail sector. Of the 21 companies that were bracing for such operating profit declines, 52% said the hit will be less than 1 billion yen.
(The Nikkei Dec. 22 morning edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The government plans to create 11 "eco-future cities" nationwide, including six in the quake-battered Tohoku region of northeastern Japan, The Nikkei learned Thursday. The plan is contained in the "Basic Strategy for Revitalizing Japan," the government's blueprint for recovering from the March 11 disaster and promoting economic growth over the medium and long term.
Residents examine a Christmas tree that was erected in a lot that has been cleared of disaster debris in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture. The report targets average economic growth of around 3% a year, after adjusting for inflation, through fiscal 2020.
It also calls for promoting the development of eco-future cities. Governments with this status will receive support for building environmentally friendly infrastructure -- such as power plants that use renewable energy -- through budgetary, tax and deregulatory measures.
National Policy Minister Motohisa Furukawa will present the blueprint Thursday at a meeting of the government's national strategy council, chaired by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. The cabinet is expected to approve the document Saturday. Based on measures detailed in the blueprint, the government will next summer compile guidelines for revitalizing the nation.
Of the six eco-future cities slated to be created in the Tohoku region, one will comprise the Iwate Prefecture localities of Ofunato, Rikuzentakata and Sumita.
The other five Tohoku localities to receive the designation are Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture; Iwanuma and Higashimatsushima, in Miyagi Prefecture; and Minamisoma and Shinchi, in Fukushima Prefecture.
The remaining five are Yokohama; Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture; Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture; Shimokawa, Hokkaido; and Toyama.
Tatsuo Kawabata, the internal affairs and communications minister, will also report at Thursday's national strategy council meeting that seven areas have been selected as "national strategy comprehensive special zones" and 26 others have been chosen as "local revitalization comprehensive special zones."
(The Nikkei Dec. 22 evening edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Magazine sales in Japan for 2011 are set to be below 1 trillion yen for the first time in 27 years, a recent survey shows.
The Research Institute for Publications found that estimated sales for the January-November period fell 6.6% on the year to 890.5 billion yen and sales in December are likely to fall below 99.9 billion yen. Annual sales through December are estimated to fall a record 6-7% on the year to around 985 billion yen.
The rise of the Internet and a stagnant economy have dampened magazine sales The institute began disclosing magazine sales statistics in 1951, and sales rose for decades. In 1984, for example, there were 930.4 billion yen in sales. But the number peaked in 1997 at 1.5644 trillion yen. The rise of the Internet and a stagnant economy have dampened sales, which contracted for 13 years in a row until 2010.
The number of magazine titles has also dropped, from a peak of 3,652 in 2006 to 3,453 in 2010. Another 40 titles are likely to have disappeared by the end of December.
Magazine sales in April fell 10.8% on the year due to supply chain disruptions stemming from the March 11 disaster.
The growing popularity of smartphones has also contributed to a shift to paperless means of communication among young people.
(The Nikkei Dec. 27 evening edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The Agriculture Ministry made a decision Monday that will effectively leave more areas off-limits to rice cultivation next year out of concern about the potential for contamination by radioactive cesium.
To conform to the stricter safety guidelines established for food contamination set forth by the Health Ministry, the Agriculture Ministry intends to expand the areas where cultivation will be prohibited in 2012 to fields where the harvested rice would likely be tainted with radioactive cesium in amounts exceeding 100 becquerels per kilogram.
The Agriculture Ministry will work with the various local governments in Fukushima Prefecture and elsewhere to iron out the details.
The new measure is much stricter than the 500 becquerels/kg limit set by the government in April after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. The rule banned rice harvested within the Fukushima Prefecture evacuation zone.
But since October, there have been a succession of reports of harvested rice exceeding the government-set limit for cesium contamination, forcing the government to ban rice shipments from various other areas as well.
(The Nikkei Dec. 27 morning edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The government and ruling party have agreed to include in consumption tax hike legislation a tax credit for low-income earners that can be paid out in cash to help lessen the burden of the higher levy.
But a proposal to apply a lower tax rate on food and other daily essentials has been dropped. Those whose credits exceed their tax liabilities would receive cash payments.
For instance, an individual who is entitled to 150,000 yen in credits against a tax liability of 100,000 yen would receive 50,000 yen in cash.
Because tax authorities need to have accurate information about an individual's income, the proposed tax credit will be premised on the launch of a national taxpayer identification system targeted for introduction in 2015.
But the introduction of the ID system may prove challenging to manage, presenting a high hurdle for the introduction of the cash benefits.
(The Nikkei Dec. 23 edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--On its surface, the fiscal 2012 budget plan will adhere to fiscal discipline, but a deeper look reveals unrestrained spending.
With 90.3 trillion yen in general-account spending, the plan to be finalized by the government on Saturday will mark the first year-on-year decline in initial-budget expenditures in six years. Yet despite its slimmed-down look, it will essentially weigh in as the biggest budget ever.
As a result of the budget negotiations in the government through Thursday, fiscal 2012 general-account spending is expected to break down into about 51 trillion yen in policy-directed expenditures, 16.6 trillion yen in tax grants to local governments and about 22 trillion yen in debt-servicing costs. A special type of bond will be issued to finance the roughly 2.6 trillion yen chunk of the government's contribution to the national basic pension.
On the other side of the ledger, the government is projecting 42.3 trillion yen in tax receipts and planning to issue 44.2 trillion yen in new bonds.
"I don't think we caved to spending pressure," Finance Minster Jun Azumi told a news conference
Thursday, denying that the government had bowed to calls from ruling coalition lawmakers and bureaucrats for a bigger budget.
But Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and his cabinet have failed to put a leash on expenditures in key areas. One is the government's share of the cost of the basic pension. Since fiscal 2009, the government has had to dip into special accounts to maintain its annual contribution to the pension program. This "buried treasure" has run out.
To solve the pension funding problem, the Welfare Ministry proposed issuing stop-gap bonds linked to revenue from a future consumption tax hike. But the Finance Ministry dismissed this idea, which would have swelled new bond issuance at a time when the government is trying to stay below a cap. Instead, ministers settled on a type of bond that requires no immediate cash payouts, thus allowing the roughly 2.6 trillion yen pension contribution to remain off the budget.
When it comes to local tax grants, the government appears to have largely conceded to pressure for more money. The total amount is set to rise 0.4% on the year to 17.5 trillion yen, but the portion coming from the general account is supposed to fall 1.2% to 16.6 trillion yen. To make the numbers work, the government will raid the Japan Finance Organization for Municipalities for 350 billion yen.
The budget plan will also call for about 3.8 trillion yen for a new special account for post-disaster reconstruction. This spending will be managed separately from the general account because it will have its own revenue sources. If it were included in the general-account budget, however, total spending would rise to about 94 trillion yen, topping initial-budget figures for both fiscal 2010 and 2011. That hardly comes across as progress on fiscal discipline.
(The Nikkei Dec. 23 edition)
YANGON (Kyodo)--Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba on Monday met with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and top officials of Myanmar's new government, encouraging them to continue the recent reform process largely welcomed by the international community for the future of its citizens.
In the latest of a series of diplomatic overtures by major countries, Gemba showed Japan's readiness to assist Myanmar in transforming itself into a democratic country and reducing poverty, especially in rural areas, after five decades of military rule.
"Japan will continue to do what it can do for Myanmar's national reconciliation to take hold," Gemba, who stood next to Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi at her residence, told reporters after their meeting. Suu Kyi expressed the hope Japan will play an active role in turning Myanmar into a better country and called for measures to improve the lives of poor people and ethnic minorities.
In an effort to rehabilitate Myanmar's once moribund economy, Japan and Myanmar agreed to begin negotiating a bilateral investment treaty.
It is the first time that Myanmar has agreed to begin negotiations on a bilateral investment treat with a major developed country, according to Japanese officials.
After meetings with President Thein Sein and Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in Myanmar's remote capital of Naypyitaw, Gemba held talks in the evening with Suu Kyi at her home in Yangon, where she spent much of the last 21 years in confinement before being freed in November last year. Gemba invited Suu Kyi to visit Japan in the near future.
"I have not been to Japan for many years and I am hoping to visit," Suu Kyi told reporters. "When I do so, I want to see many places while thinking that one day Myanmar will be developed like Japan." Suu Kyi lived in the Japanese ancient capital of Kyoto for two years in the mid-1980s as a visiting scholar, before returning to her country, formerly known as Burma, and becoming the iconic opposition leader. Since 1988, she has never been outside the country.
During the meetings in Naypyitaw, Gemba urged Myanmar's government leaders to make more progress in implementing reforms. Since it took over from a military junta in March, the new nominally civilian government has released some political prisoners, eased restrictions on the media and business, and held direct talks with Suu Kyi.
"This visit will be a big turning point for Japan-Myanmar relations," Gemba told Wunna Maung Lwin as they sat down for talks in the capital, located 320 kilometers north of Yangon and which the government started building from scratch in the middle of nowhere in 2005.
The Myanmar foreign minister vowed to release more political prisoners, without specifying when and how many, according to the officials.
Among other agenda items, Gemba, the first Japanese foreign minister to visit the country since August 2002, made a request to begin negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty, which Myanmar accepted.
Such a pact, if realized, would help liberalize and improve protection of investment and create an easier environment for Japanese companies to do business in Myanmar.
Thein Sein told Gemba that "economic development" is requisite to solidify Myanmar's transition to democratic governance, expressing hope for more investment from Japan, according to a Japanese official.
Gemba also called on the government leaders to conduct upcoming elections in an open, free and fair manner, according to Japanese officials.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, which formally registered as a political party last Friday, will aim to win all vacant seats in a by-election to be held as early as March.
In November 2010 the Southeast Asian country held its first general election in 20 years, but Suu Kyi's party boycotted them and critics condemned the polls as a sham. The NLD won the country's previous general election in 1990 by a landslide but was never allowed to take up seats in parliament. A week after the announcement of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's sudden death, Gemba also pressed Thein Sein, a former general and prime minister, and Wunna Maung Lwin to break off military and suspected nuclear links with Pyongyang, the officials said.
But he did not pledge any financial aid package, the officials said. Tokyo believes that Myanmar still has a long way to go to improve its governance and find ways to repay its sizable debts to Japan and multilateral institutions, they said.
Unlike the United States and Europe, Japan has maintained trade ties with Myanmar, one of Asia's most impoverished countries, and did not impose tough sanctions even during the time of the long military rule in the country.
The policy reflects Japan's efforts to avoid Myanmar being isolated from the international community.
Still, Japan stopped carrying out new development projects from 2003 in the wake of the detention again of Suu Kyi, with the exception of humanitarian aid and some limited technical cooperation. In an attempt to make the steps toward democracy in Myanmar irreversible, Japan recently launched bilateral consultations on economic cooperation, suggesting that it is prepared to consider the resumption of yen loans for development projects.
Many Japanese officials say the pace of change in Myanmar -- which will chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2014 -- is promising.
(The Nikkei Dec.27 edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Retail prices of personal computers in Japan have plunged in recent months, with prices of some new laptop PCs released this past autumn falling by more than 20% from late October.
As smartphones and tablet computers become increasingly popular among consumers, PC manufacturers and consumer electronics retailers are trying to ramp up demand for PCs as they head into the year-end shopping season by offering significant discounts.
The top-selling models are PCs priced below 100,000 yen at stores in Tokyo and Osaka, says an official at Yodobashi Camera Co. In October, Fujitsu introduced its new FMVA56E laptop. It sold for about 108,000 yen at electronics shops throughout Tokyo in mid-December, down 23% from its price in late October. In Osaka, Sony Corp.'s (6758) new VPCEH28FJ model, launched in October, has been selling for less than 80,000 yen, down 25% from its original price, or 26,000 yen cheaper. U.S.-based Intel Corp.'s Ultrabook, meanwhile, first hit stores in late October, but it has already fallen in price, just two months after its debut. And Taiwanese manufacturer ASUSTek Computer Inc.'s UX21E-KX064 computer, which is equipped with an expensive solid-state drive (SSD) memory device, now sells within a range of approximately 75,000 yen to about 85,000 yen in Tokyo and Osaka, down 7-9% from average prices in late October.
Data from research firm BCN Inc. shows that the average unit price for PCs stood at roughly 72,000 yen in November, down about 16,000 yen on the year. PC sales volumes are higher than a year ago, thanks to cheaper prices. But consumers are now choosing which products to buy by comparing PCs against smartphones and tablets priced in the 50,000-70,000 range, said an official at an electronics retailer.
(The Nikkei Dec. 22 evening edition)
TOKYO (NQN)--Domestic shipments of home appliances fell 16.2% on the year in November to 174.52 billion yen, marking the fifth straight monthly drop, the Japan Electrical Manufacturers' Association said Monday.
The fall came in reaction to a last-minute jump in demand the previous year, as the government's eco-point sales incentives for energy-efficient home appliances were cut in half in December of last year. Consequently, shipments of home appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators declined.
Shipments of air conditioners shrank 33.9% to 34.32 billion yen, down for the fifth straight month. Despite the fall in value, shipments in volume terms were the second-highest after last year, since comparable data became available in 1972.
Shipments of refrigerators slid 30% to 30.52 billion yen.
Meanwhile, shipments of washing machines jumped 13.9% to 25.81 billion yen, while those of air purifiers reached 9.82 billion yen, up 19.6%.
(The Nikkei Dec.26 edition)
The Office of Commercial Affairs, Royal Thai Embassy in Tokyo, Japan
Source : http://www.depthai.go.th