Over 60% increase in one year! Why are Japanese seawater pearls so expensive?, Prices continue to rise in the market | Pearl | Seawater
The Akoya pearls, produced in Japan, have a high reputation in the international market. In recent years, the price of Agoya pearls has continued to rise, with a yearly increase of over 60%.
△ Video from CCTV Finance's "Tianxia Finance" program
A pearl specialty store located in the Ueno area of Tokyo, mainly selling various jewelry made from Akoya pearls, including necklaces, earrings, brooches, etc.
The store manager said that they also operate pearl wholesale business and need to frequently go to bidding meetings in various pearl breeding grounds in Japan to purchase. In recent years, the price of Agukuni pearls has been increasing. Among them, the average transaction price of the previous year's bidding fair increased by nearly 70% year-on-year, reaching about twice that of 2019.
In order to adapt to this trend, they had to raise the price of accessories. Taking a 40 centimeter long pearl necklace as an example, the selling price last year was 400000 yen, but now it has been raised to 660000 yen, an increase of 65%.
Seiichi Tu Ye, head of a pearl store in Tokyo, Japan: the demand is large, but the supply has decreased sharply, which has led to a sharp rise in the price of pearl jewelry. Such an extreme price increase is the first time in more than 40 years.
It is understood that the breeding cycle of Aguya pearls is generally 3 to 4 years. In 2019, a new type of virus appeared in pearl breeding bases in Ehime and Mie prefectures, the main pearl producing areas in Japan, causing a large number of deaths of Agukuni shells used for pearl cultivation, and a sharp decline in pearl production.
Data shows that Japan's pearl production last year was only 13.2 tons, a 40% decrease from 2018. Only half of the young shells released at Ehime County Pearl Breeding Base last year survived. It is understood that this virus is still spreading and has spread to other production areas.
Japan National Pearl Revitalization Association Executive Director Yukio Tasaka: It is impossible to predict when prices will fall at the moment. The mechanism of the virus is currently unclear and will take time.
At present, aquaculture bases across Japan are taking measures such as replacing or cleaning net cages, and transferring uninfected mother shells to other sea areas, but the results are not ideal. Due to the difficulty in containing the spread of the virus, it is expected that there will still be a shortage of pearl supply in the future.
At the same time, the depreciation of the Japanese yen has made Japanese pearls more competitive in overseas markets. The increasing purchasing demand from overseas consumers has further pushed up the price of pearls.
