Weakening demand in the Japanese market is reshaping the global flow of Mediterranean bluefin tuna. The "EU Fish Market (2025 Edition)" released by the European Fisheries and Aquaculture Products Market Observatory (EUMOFA) under the European Commission shows that Malta, a major center for Mediterranean bluefin tuna farming (fattening), is accelerating the adjustment of its export structure. In the future, a considerable proportion of its products will no longer flow to Japan but directly enter the Chinese market.
For a long time, Japan has been the absolute core market for Maltese bluefin tuna. The report indicates that in the past, approximately 90% of Malta's farmed bluefin tuna was exported to Japan, which then processed a portion of it and re-exported it to other countries. This highly concentrated niche market structure has supported the rapid expansion of Malta's tuna industry over the past decade. Data shows that over the decade up to 2023, Malta's bluefin tuna production has cumulatively increased by 242%, and its value has risen by 77%. In 2023, the production reached 18,624 tons, with a value of approximately 167 million euros. The weight of bluefin tuna in the EU's aquaculture system has significantly increased.
But this single-market reliance was quickly exposed to risks after demand in Japan weakened. In 2024, Japan's total tuna imports for the year were 1.588 billion US dollars, a decrease of 14.2% compared to 2023. Among them, Japan's expenditure on importing tuna from Malta decreased significantly, directly dragging down the overall value of Japan's aquatic product imports by approximately 5% year-on-year. Structurally speaking, Japan imported approximately 2.3 million tons of fishery and aquaculture products in 2024, with a slight increase in quantity. However, the total import value dropped to 12.2 billion euros. The import value of tuna from Malta and Thailand, as well as salmon roe products from Russia and the United States, all declined.
The changes in the Japanese market have had a significant impact on the local industries in Malta. In 2023, the total volume of fish farming in Malta increased by 15% year-on-year to approximately 21,000 tons, but the total revenue of the entire aquaculture sector dropped by 38% year-on-year to 199 million euros. The contradiction of increased volume and falling price highlights the high sensitivity of high-end bluefin tuna to price and demand cycles.
Against this backdrop, the Chinese market was rapidly brought to the forefront. Since 2023, Malta has signed relevant trade agreements with China and started to directly export farmed bluefin tuna to China. With the continuous expansion of high-end dining and fresh food consumption in China, the country is regarded as an important incremental market capable of absorbing the contraction in demand from Japan. Data from the National Statistics Agency of Malta shows that between 2020 and 2023, the country's average annual tuna export volume was approximately 16,000 to 20,000 tons, with the export value fluctuating between 120 million and 319 million euros. In 2023, both the export volume and value declined simultaneously due to factors such as geopolitics and exchange rates. However, as the Chinese market opened up, signs of recovery gradually emerged.
In 2024, Maltese bluefin tuna made its debut in the Chinese market at the China International Import Expo and facilitated the customs clearance of the first batch of products. According to Malta's plan, it is expected that nearly half of the approximately 20,000 tons of farmed bluefin tuna produced annually in the future will be directly exported to China. This means that the long-standing trade pattern of Maltese bluefin tuna, which has been centered on Japan, is undergoing a structural shift.
