The government will release up to 210,000 tons of its stockpiled rice, farm minister Taku Eto said Friday, in a bid to ensure smooth distribution of the Japanese staple amid soaring prices due in part to higher demand.
Calling the recent hike in rice prices unusual, Eto said at a press conference after a cabinet meeting that he hopes the first-ever release aimed at stabilizing supply will “bring the market back to normal.”
The reserved rice will be handed over to wholesalers in mid-March after bidding and is expected to hit store shelves between late March and early April. In the first stage, the government is scheduled to release 150,000 tons of the rice.
The rice to be released will mainly come from last year’s harvest, with some also from 2023, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
While the 2024 rice harvest rose by 180,000 tons from a year earlier to 6.79 million tons, the amount secured by major distributors as of the end of December was down 210,000 tons.
In Japan, the nationwide consumer price index for rice skyrocketed 64.5 percent in December from a year earlier, the biggest climb since comparable data became available in 1971, the government said late last month.
The average price of brown rice produced in 2024 and sold to wholesalers by suppliers hit 23,715 yen per 60 kilograms, the highest since official records began in 1990, against a backdrop of shortages along with growing demand.
In the summer of 2023, harvests were poor after a period of high temperatures, reducing the amount of rice available for distribution the following year. A sharp rise in the number of foreign tourists has also driven up rice consumption at restaurants.
Additional pressure came in August as the Japan Meteorological Agency issued its first-ever advisory warning of an increased risk of a major earthquake along the Nankai Trough, prompting consumers to hoard rice and putting further strain on supply.
Last month, the farm ministry eased its policy to allow the release of stockpiled rice to counter price hikes, in addition to providing support after poor harvests.
The government plans to sell the reserved rice to agricultural cooperatives and other wholesalers on condition that it can buy back the same amount within a year to avoid a price collapse.
© KYODO