Changes in the Supply Structure of Marine Resources and the Response of Local Companies Focused on the Seafood Processing Industry in Sakai-minato

Abstract

This paper analyzes the progress of delocalization of resource procurement and the response of companies to change in the seafood processing industry at Sakai-minato, Tottori Prefecture, based on available statistics and interviews with some of the local seafood processing companies. The analysis revealed two structural factors that have caused consecutive decline in the value-added of the seafood processing industry since the end of the 1990s. First, delocalization of resource procurement has progressed and volume of imported resources, especially the red snow crab processing, has increased due to a shortage in the local resources since the mid-1990s. However, the marine food processing industry must stop importing from foreign exporters and is forced to rely on only local resources for political reasons. This structural change in the resource supply has made the industry unstable with a fluctuation in raw material prices. Second, the industry itself has a structural problem. Most companies at Sakai-minato are only in charge of some parts of the production process such as the production of intermediate goods and most of them are in charge of low value-added products only.JEL Classification: L22, L66