Reported by SeafoodMedia on March 30, Russia's share of live crab exports increased by 10 percent in 2022, expanding to 40 percent. The increase was due to an export ban imposed on Russia by the United States, which has the largest demand for frozen crab.

As a result of the ban, the price of frozen crab in Russia has dropped by half since last spring, and statistics show that Russian crab exporters are turning to high-value live crab exports to replace the lost revenue from frozen crab.

Russia's trade statistics have not been made public since February 2022. It is not possible to analyze the proportion of frozen crab and live crab exports from Russia's statistics since the end of 2022. However, Japanese media Minato Shimbun analyzed and predicted the import trade of Russian crab from Japan, China, the United States and South Korea, the major crab consumers. If the current market price is maintained, the ratio of frozen crab exports to live crab exports this year is likely to be 50-50.

Most of the live crab produced in Russia is exported to China and South Korea, contributing to an increase in the proportion of live crab exports, but the proportion of frozen crab, which is in high demand in Japan, fell 10 percent to 60 percent.

Russian crab exports to the United States fell by 32,000 tons to 19,000 tons in 2022, or 63 percent, due to the export ban imposed by the West on Russia due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, frozen king crab exports to the U.S. in June last year were the same as those for the whole of 2021, but frozen snow, blue and gold king crab exports fell sharply.

In contrast, Japan, China and South Korea increased their imports of Russian crabs by 46 percent, making up for a 68 percent drop in exports to the United States. In Japan, sales of frozen snow crabs topped 10,000 tons for the first time in nearly three years, despite a decline in live crab purchases.

In 2022, the export volume of frozen crab from Russia to Japan was 13,065 tons, an increase of 55% year-on-year, and the export volume of frozen snow crab to Japan was 11,073 tons, an increase of 60% year-on-year.

Exports of live Russian crabs in China and South Korea, where demand is high, have increased by 20 to 30 percent, while supplies of frozen crabs in both countries have also increased, with exports to South Korea up 2.6 times and exports to China up three times.

In 2022, live Russian crab exports to South Korea increased by 22 percent to 14,239 tons, snow crab exports increased by 23 percent to 9,586 tons, and other categories, such as king crab exports, increased by 18 percent to 4,654 tons.

As China relaxes its epidemic control measures, the number of Chinese tourists in South Korea is increasing, fueling a surge in crab consumption in the country. Russian frozen crab exports to Korea increased 2.6 times to 4,426 tons. Exports of king crabs increased 6.3 times to 638 tons, while exports of other types of crabs, such as snow crabs, increased 2.3 times to 3,789 tons.

A trader pointed out that the consumption of crabs in Russia's domestic restaurants is increasing, and the consumption index will be significantly strengthened in 2022, with the remaining 16 percent of crabs being consumed domestically, except for exported crabs. However, of Russia's total crab catch quota, exports to Japan, China, the United States and South Korea accounted for 96 percent of the catch in 2020 and 94 percent in 2021, before falling to 84 percent in 2022.