Sawt Falasteen - Japan tuna price soars past $270,000 at New Year auction

NYSE - LSE

NGG	-0.95%	81.86	$
RBGPF	3.6%	72.77	$
RIO	-0.86%	83.42	$
GSK	-0.91%	50.75	$
BCE	-2.01%	20.4	$
BTI	-1.66%	59.48	$
CMSC	0%	19.6	$
BP	2.47%	51.32	$
BCC	-0.71%	77.74	$
RELX	-0.2%	40.54	$
VOD	-2.41%	15.74	$
AZN	-0.63%	171.49	$
CMSD	0.91%	19.78	$
RYCEF	-11.47%	15.26	$
JRI	0.65%	10.75	$

Japan tuna price soars past $270,000 at New Year auction / Photo: Richard A. Brooks - AFP

Japan tuna price soars past $270,000 at New Year auction

ECONOMY 05.01.2023

The top-selling tuna at Tokyo's traditional New Year auction sold for more than $270,000 on Thursday, nearly double last year's price, breaking a pandemic trend of slumping demand.

Text size:

Michelin-starred sushi restaurant Onodera Group and Japanese wholesaler Yamayuki forked out 36.04 million yen ($273,000) for the 212-kilo bluefin tuna in the auction at Tokyo's Toyosu fish market.

The figure was still only a fraction of the 2019 record price but marks a recovery for the symbolic auction after three years in which prices slumped.

Last year's top-selling tuna, bought by the same pair of bidders, went for just 16.88 million yen, with observers blaming subdued demand as a Covid wave ripped through Japan in early 2022.

The New Year auction is highly anticipated, and securing the top-priced tuna offers bidders bragging rights.

For years, the top bid came from self-proclaimed "Tuna King" Kiyoshi Kimura, who paid a record $3.1 million in 2019.

But in recent years, Kimura has held back, citing the pandemic.

N.Shalabi--SF-PST

Sawt Falasteen - Japan tuna price soars past $270,000 at New Year auction

Japan tuna price soars past $270,000 at New Year auction

Featured

QNB expands cross-border funding for AI and digital infrastructure

France's Le Pen launches presidential bid vowing to restore 'rule of law'

J&K Bank raises accident cover for government employees to ₹1 crore

Technical outlook diverges for Bharti Airtel, PFC, REC and Alkyl Amines