Dynamics of Production and Trade of Flower Bulbs in the Netherlands, China and Japan

In Japan, the flower industry has stagnated since the late 1990s. The production of tulip bulb, especially, has greatly decreased in Toyama, the largest growing area in Japan. The peak of production was 1993, when the volume was 61 million bulbs. By 2015, volume was 17 million bulbs (28% of 1993’s volume). One of the reasons for the reduction is the competition from cheaper Dutch bulbs. Tulip imports from the Netherlands, however, have decreased too. This paper aims to investigate the situation of the world bulb market and the true reason for the decline in the industry as seen in Japan. In this paper we discuss features of production and trade in the Netherlands, China, and Japan from 2000 to 2015. The Netherlands is a dominant country in the global flower industry. It has the largest production and trade of flower bulbs. China is a growing economy and the bulb industry there is growing and young; it is increasing its production and imports. Japan is also both a consumer and producer of bulbs; however, Japanese production and imports are decreasing. In this study, we compare the details of production and trade of the three countries and explore some economic factors of changes. We use an elementary economics model of demand and supply, analyse the dynamics of price and quantity on production, export, import and consumption of tulip bulbs and show some implications for Japan