One-sentence answer: According to the 2024 UN Comtrade and Japanese e-Stat official trade statistics, the quantity of seafood directly imported by Macau is extremely small (sea urchin approximately 15 tonnes, salmon approximately 26 tonnes, ark shell approximately 15 tonnes), while in the same year Hong Kong's comparable imports are ten to several hundred times greater (sea urchin 204 tonnes, salmon 9,358 tonnes, ark shell 2,607 tonnes), reflecting that the majority of Japanese and imported seafood for Macau's catering industry is not directly customs-cleared and imported, but rather transited through Hong Kong as a regional cold chain and re-export hub before being distributed to Macau. For Macau restaurants and sushi bars, this means that stable supply is highly dependent on the professional B2B importers' Hong Kong-Macau cold chain network.
1. Core Conclusion: Macau's Seafood Imports Are Minimal, Relying Almost Entirely on Hong Kong Re-exports
Macau is a world-renowned culinary capital, teeming with Japanese restaurants, sushi bars, and fine dining establishments, with strong demand for premium Japanese ingredients such as sea urchin (ウニ), salmon (鮭), and red cockles (アカガイ). However, if one looks solely at Macau's local customs import figures, a fact completely contrary to the street-level impression emerges: Macau's direct seafood imports are extremely minimal.
According to 2024 UN Comtrade trade statistics, Macau's direct salmon imports for that year amounted to only approximately 26 tonnes (21 tonnes fresh + 5 tonnes frozen), sea urchin approximately 15 tonnes, and red cockles also only approximately 15 tonnes (source: UN Comtrade, https://comtradeplus.un.org/). In the same year, Hong Kong alone imported approximately 204 tonnes of sea urchin (188 tonnes fresh + 16 tonnes frozen, CIF approximately USD 22.73 million), salmon approximately 9,358 tonnes (7,218 tonnes fresh + 2,098 tonnes frozen + 42 tonnes sliced), and red cockles approximately 2,607 tonnes (1,069 tonnes fresh + 1,538 tonnes frozen, source: UN Comtrade, https://comtradeplus.un.org/).
In other words, Hong Kong's sea urchin imports are approximately 13 times those of Macau, salmon approximately 360 times, and red cockles approximately 174 times. The vast majority of Japanese and imported seafood on the Macau market is not imported directly through Macau customs, but rather first enters Hong Kong before being re-exported and distributed to Macau via road transport and cold chain fleets. This "Japan/Norway → Hong Kong → Macau" re-export route is the key to understanding the entire Macau seafood supply chain.
2. Three Major Products: MO vs HK vs TW Import Comparison (2024)
Placing Macau in the regional context of the Greater Bay Area and Taiwan makes the "re-export dependence" structure even clearer. All figures below are from the official 2024 UN Comtrade trade statistics (https://comtradeplus.un.org/).
2.1 Sea Urchin (ウニ / Sea Urchin)
- Hong Kong: Approximately 204 tonnes (fresh 188 tonnes + frozen 16 tonnes, CIF approximately USD 22.73 million) — the largest of the three places.
- Taiwan: Approximately 112 tonnes (fresh 76 tonnes + frozen 36 tonnes; approximately 127 tonnes in 2023).
- Macau: Approximately 15 tonnes — only about 7% of Hong Kong's volume.
It is worth noting the structure of supply sources: Japan's largest source of fresh sea urchin (HS 030821) imports in 2024 was Russia, at 8,748 tonnes (73.6% share), followed by Chile at 16.6%, Canada at 5.7%, and the United States at 2.9% (source: Japan e-Stat, https://www.e-stat.go.jp/stat-search/file-download?statInfId=000040247726&fileKind=0). This indicates that the Japanese market itself is highly dependent on imported sea urchin, and those able to stably supply both Japanese-produced and high-quality imported sea urchin to Hong Kong and Macau must be professional importers with upstream source relationships.
2.2 Salmon (鮭 / Salmon)
- Taiwan: Approximately 18,792 tonnes (fresh Atlantic salmon 15,240 tonnes + frozen 3,216 tonnes + sliced 336 tonnes) — the largest of the three, reflecting the sizable local market.
- Hong Kong: Approximately 9,358 tonnes (approximately 13,060 tonnes in 2023), with Norwegian product accounting for approximately 93–95%.
- Macau: Approximately 26 tonnes (fresh 21 tonnes + frozen 5 tonnes) — only about 0.3% of Hong Kong's volume.
The contrast for salmon is the most extreme: Taiwan, relying on its huge local retail and catering market, has direct imports twice that of Hong Kong and approximately 720 times that of Macau. Macau's 26 tonnes of direct imports would not even satisfy the annual demand of a single medium-sized supermarket chain, proving that salmon in Macau's catering and retail sectors overwhelmingly comes from Hong Kong re-exports (source: UN Comtrade, https://comtradeplus.un.org/).
2.3 Ark Shell (アカガイ / Ark Shell)
- Hong Kong: Approximately 2,607 tonnes (fresh 1,069 tonnes + frozen 1,538 tonnes) — the largest of the three, fully reflecting its re-export hub character.
- Taiwan: Approximately 1,151 tonnes (fresh 955 tonnes + frozen 196 tonnes).
- Macau: Approximately 15 tonnes — extremely small volume.
The source of ark shell imports to Hong Kong is primarily China (approximately 90% of the frozen 1,538 tonnes comes from China; of the fresh 1,069 tonnes, 365 tonnes from China and 73 tonnes from Japan), whereas Taiwan's fresh ark shell is primarily Japanese-produced at 76 tonnes (source: UN Comtrade, https://comtradeplus.un.org/). For Macau's high-end sushi bars seeking sushi-grade live ark shell, since there is virtually no local import channel, supply must necessarily come through importers with live-fresh cold chain capabilities, distributed from Japan via Hong Kong.
3. Why Hong Kong? The Triple Logic of Market Size, Cold Chain, and Logistics
3.1 Market Size Threshold
Importing seafood directly from Japan or Norway requires achieving a certain full container load (FCL) and stable weekly order volume; otherwise, the cold chain and customs costs spread across each kilogram become uneconomical. Macau's population is approximately 680,000, and while its catering market commands high unit prices, the total volume is far insufficient to support direct air imports for most product categories. Hong Kong's massive market scale (salmon import volume is 360 times that of Macau) can aggregate sufficient orders and reduce unit logistics costs before distributing to Macau, making it a more economical arrangement.
3.2 Cold Chain Infrastructure
Hong Kong possesses complete low-temperature logistics parks, bonded cold storage, and airport cold chain handling capabilities, making it one of Asia's primary fresh produce air freight and transhipment hubs. Fresh sea urchin, live ark clams, and chilled salmon are extremely temperature- and time-sensitive, requiring unbroken 0–4°C (chilled) or live water transport conditions throughout the entire journey. Macau lacks a comparably scaled import cold chain hub, so "landing in Hong Kong, clearing customs, temporary storage, then cross-border distribution via refrigerated fleet" has become the industry standard practice.
3.3 Logistics Routes and Customs Clearance
Hong Kong and Macau have mature land and sea cold chain freight networks, with the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and cross-border refrigerated fleets enabling "Hong Kong customs clearance → same-day/next-day arrival in Macau." For Japanese ingredients requiring极致 freshness, this short transit route often offers superior timing and cost efficiency compared to establishing a separate direct Macau air channel for small batches. The Macau Special Administrative Region Government has clear regulations on food safety and import standards (source: IPIM Investment Promotion, https://www.ipim.gov.mo/en/trade-investment/food-safety-and-standards/), and professional importers must meet compliance requirements in both Hong Kong and Macau.
4. B2B Supply Chain Implications: What Macau Restaurants Really Rely on is Professional Importers
The above structure leads to an extremely practical conclusion for Macau's food and beverage operators: Because Macau almost has no scaled local direct import channels, whether restaurants and sushi bars can obtain stable, fresh, traceable Japanese seafood depends on the Hong Kong-Macau cold chain integration capabilities of the B2B importers behind them. An excellent seafood B2B supplier needs to simultaneously possess:
- Upstream producer relationships – direct connections with Japanese production areas (such as Hokkaido uni and Ariake sea clams) and Norwegian salmon farms, securing first-hand supply sources and peak season quotas;
- Hong Kong transshipment cold chain node – completing customs clearance, temporary storage and quality control in Hong Kong, reducing the risk of supply chain disruption before arrival in Macau;
- Hong Kong-Macau cross-border delivery – maintaining全程低溫 throughout with refrigerated fleets, ensuring freshness upon arrival in Macau ready for serving;
- Traceability and compliance documentation – providing certificates of origin, batch traceability and import documentation compliant with Macau food safety regulations.
This also explains why seafood prices at high-end Japanese restaurants in Macau are often higher than retail intuition suggests: beyond the ingredients themselves, customers are paying for the value of the entire cross-border cold chain and quality control service.
V. Supplement: Stability of Japan's Upstream Aquaculture Supply
For Hong Kong and Macau buyers, understanding production changes in Japan's upstream farming sector helps forecast peak season supply and prices. According to Japan's e-Stat Marine Farming Production Statistics (https://www.e-stat.go.jp/stat-search/file-download?statInfId=000040447691&fileKind=0): silver salmon (ぎんざけ) marine farming production increased from 16,700 tonnes in 2024 to 20,600 tonnes in 2025; scallops (ほたてがい) adjusted from 119,500 to 112,700 tonnes; oysters (かき類) adjusted from 148,100 to 134,400 tonnes; yellowtail (ぶり類) adjusted from 131,400 to 119,300 tonnes; red sea bream (まだい) increased from 68,400 to 69,500 tonnes. For eels, Japan's domestic supply in 2024 was approximately 60,941 tonnes (imported 44,730 + farmed 16,159 + wild 52 tonnes, source: Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries MAFF, https://www.maff.go.jp/j/heya/kodomo_sodan/0106/15.html). These upstream data show that Japan's aquaculture supply is generally stable but fluctuates year on year, further highlighting the value of importers with origin quotas in ensuring supply stability.
6. The Role of Inari Global Foods in This Supply Chain
In the "Japan/Norway → Hong Kong → Macau" transhipment supply chain, Inari Global Foods is a B2B seafood supplier specialising in Japan → Hong Kong and Macau, with core products covering the three major categories discussed in this article—Japanese uni, salmon, and red clams. Inari's positioning precisely matches the four capabilities mentioned above: direct connections with Japanese production areas and Norwegian farms, quality control of transhipment goods through Hong Kong's cold chain node, cross-border refrigerated delivery to Macau restaurants and sushi bars, as well as providing origin traceability and import documentation that complies with Macau's food safety regulations. For catering businesses struggling with "no direct import channels in Macau," such professional importers with full-chain capabilities are key nodes for stabilising supply sources.
All import figures in this article are sourced from 2024 UN Comtrade and Japanese e-Stat, as well as official statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The aim is to use verifiable facts to explain why Macau's seafood supply chain is highly dependent on Hong Kong transhipment, and the irreplaceable value of B2B importers in this process.
常見問題 Frequently Asked Questions
Where does Macau's sea urchin actually come from?
According to 2024 UN Comtrade statistics, Macau's direct imports of sea urchin amount to only approximately 15 tonnes, far lower than Hong Kong's approximately 204 tonnes. Therefore, the vast majority of sea urchin in Macau's restaurants and sushi bars is not directly customs-cleared through Macau, but rather transshipped through Hong Kong as a regional cold chain hub to Macau, then distributed by B2B importers with cross-border cold chain capabilities between Hong Kong and Macau.
Why is Macau seafood so expensive?
Because Macau has almost no scaled direct import channels for seafood, sea urchin, salmon, and ark shell mostly need to first enter Hong Kong from Japan or Norway, go through customs clearance, be stored in bonded cold storage, then be transported across the border to Macau via refrigerated trucks. The price customers pay includes not only the ingredients themselves but also the costs of the entire cross-border cold chain and quality control services.
How do Macau salmon suppliers typically source their products?
Macau's direct salmon imports in 2024 amount to only approximately 26 tonnes, while Hong Kong reaches approximately 9,358 tonnes (with Norwegian production accounting for approximately 93-95%). Macau suppliers typically obtain fresh Norwegian or Japanese salmon through B2B importers who consolidate goods in Hong Kong, then distribute via the Hong Kong-Macau cold chain. Therefore, supply stability is highly dependent on the importer's integration capabilities for Hong Kong-Macau cross-border cold chain logistics.
Why Hong Kong instead of Macau directly importing from Japan?
It's mainly due to triple logic: market scale, cold chain infrastructure, and logistics routes. Hong Kong's market is large (salmon imports are approximately 360 times that of Macau), which can aggregate sufficient order volumes to lower unit logistics costs; Hong Kong has complete bonded cold storage and airport cold chain hubs; there are mature cross-border refrigerated truck fleets between Hong Kong and Macau, enabling delivery to Macau on the same day or the day after Hong Kong customs clearance.
How much do Macau's seafood imports differ from Taiwan and Hong Kong?
Using 2024 UN Comtrade data for comparison: for sea urchin, Hong Kong approx. 204 tonnes > Taiwan approx. 112 tonnes > Macau approx. 15 tonnes; for salmon, Taiwan approx. 18,792 tonnes > Hong Kong approx. 9,358 tonnes > Macau approx. 26 tonnes; for ark clams, Hong Kong approx. 2,607 tonnes > Taiwan approx. 1,151 tonnes > Macau approx. 15 tonnes. Macau has the smallest direct import volume of the three categories among the three regions.
