Vietnam's pangasius moves closer to Japan's surimi supply chain
Japan's fish paste manufacturers have spent four years chasing raw material. The Bering Sea is not delivering the pollock they need, and the paste they buy has roughly doubled in price since 2023. A farmed catfish from the Mekong is now being tested as a base material, according to reporting by Jiji Press carried by The Japan Times.
The switch, if it holds, would touch every product built on surimi: crab sticks, fish balls, chikuwa, satsuma-age and kamaboko. That is a large share of the frozen value-added case that Asian exporters ship into Japan and, increasingly, into Southeast Asian retail.
The Numbers
Japan consumes more than 200,000 tonnes of surimi a year, the industry group cited by Jiji Press said. Alaska pollock supplies most of it, and Japanese landings out of Hokkaido and other grounds have been weak enough that processors lean heavily on US imports.
The problem is not only quota. Pollock caught in the Bering Sea have been getting smaller in recent seasons, which cuts yield per tonne of raw fish. The same industry group estimates that reduced output has doubled surimi prices over the past three to four years.
Processors have tried other Southeast Asian species: golden threadfin bream, croaker and daggertooth pike conger. Those fisheries are not filling the gap, because high fuel costs tied to Middle East disruption have kept boats tied up.
Vietnam produces more than 1.6 million tonnes of pangasius a year, according to a trading house official quoted in the report. The same trading house is working with a Vietnamese seafood company on a pangasius-based surimi, and the official said several thousand tonnes a year could be supplied to Japan in future.
What It Means for Buyers
Pangasius is cheap, white-fleshed and already moves in volume to Europe and the United States, mostly as fillets for frying. What it has not been is a surimi base, where gel strength, whiteness and water retention decide whether a crab stick shreds properly or a fish ball bounces.
That makes this a specification story before it is a price story. Buyers sourcing surimi-based lines for Japan or for Japanese-style retail elsewhere should expect quotes that separate pollock base from pangasius base, and they should treat the two as different inputs, not interchangeable tonnes.
Three practical points. First, ask for gel strength and moisture data on any pangasius paste sample rather than judging on price per tonne alone, because a weaker gel usually means more paste per unit of finished product. Second, confirm what species statement appears on the finished pack. Reformulating a crab stick onto a catfish base changes what the label has to say, and retail customers in Japan and the EU will ask. Third, keep pollock coverage running in parallel. A trading house describing "several thousand tonnes" of future supply is signaling a pilot, not a market.
The read across for processors outside Japan is narrower but real. Japan paying more for pollock surimi pulls US and European supply toward that market, which tightens what is left for Southeast Asian crab stick and fish ball plants. If pangasius paste absorbs part of Japan's demand, that pressure eases at the margin.
What to Watch
Bering Sea pollock A season starts in January. Catch size and fish size in the first weeks set the tone for 2027 paste pricing.
Japanese import tender prices for pollock surimi, which move before spot deals for finished crab sticks.
Whether pangasius paste clears Japanese labeling review and retail acceptance, or stays a trial product.
Vietnamese pangasius raw material prices, since a surimi channel competing with fillet buyers would lift farmgate quotes.
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This article was researched and drafted with the assistance of AI and is published for general information only. It does not constitute trading, pricing, or investment advice, and readers should verify all figures against the original sources linked above before making commercial decisions. Content on this page is partly AI-generated. Easy Seafood makes no warranty as to its accuracy or completeness.
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