Japan disaster affects the pet supplies market

Following the destruction wreaked by the earthquake and ensuing tsunami in Japan, many people now fear a maximum credible accident at the nuclear reactor plant in the Japanese prefecture of Fukushima (editor’s note: as of 8 April 2011). The reactor problems and the devastating natural disasters are not only having a serious effect on daily life in the country, however; the pet supplies market in Japan and abroad has also been significantly affected. In an initial reaction to the disaster, Japan’s leading trade show for the pet supplies sector, the Japan Pet Fair, has been cancelled due to the earthquake, which occurred in Tohoku district. “Nothing is as it was in Japan and our sector is naturally also affected by this,” says Koord Janssen, director of marketing and innovation at Tetra Europe. The market hasn’t collapsed and exports are continuing, but in some regions it has become extremely difficult to keep businesses going. “Depending on the region, there are power cuts lasting several hours every day, which naturally has consequences for warm water aquariums, for example,” says Janssen. Some companies might give up on aquatics completely after this disaster as a result and get out of the business. The consequences of this for companies exporting to Japan cannot yet be estimated. “Of course, this disaster will also have longer-term effects. But we cannot predict yet how the market will develop.” Raw materials at risk Apart from the destroyed infrastructure, Daniel Heerz, proprietor of the pond fish supplier Aqua-Logistik, can foresee another problem that will specifically affect the aquatics market. Many companies import raw materials such as kelp flour from Japan to manufacture their fish food. The flour is obtained by drying and grinding the brown algae that grows in the sea off Japan and is harvested primarily in the north of the country. The leak at the Fukushima nuclear plant, from which millions of litres of radioactive water have escaped into the sea, may mean that these underwater plants will be irreparably damaged for years to come. According to Heerz, the majority of production for this year is secure as the stocks stem from last year. He believes the availability of kelp flour from Japan may be seriously jeopardised for 2012, however. “This could result in production shifting from Japan to abroad,” says Heerz. Pet product retailers who get exports from Japan are also having second thoughts about products from Japan that are currently being…