Japan Extends Deadline for Sale of Rice Accumulated in Storage
Japan Extends Deadline for Government-Stockpiled Rice Sales
The Japanese Agriculture Ministry has announced an extension of the deadline for selling government-stockpiled rice, originally set to end in August, due to slow deliveries to retailers. The new deadline extends into September and beyond, with the ministry requesting businesses to ensure the rice sells out within a month of delivery [1].
As of Aug. 10, only 107,130 tons of the applied rice have been sold, leaving approximately 192,870 tons unsold from the 300,000 tons retailers applied to sell [1]. The ministry is concerned about distributing the entire contracted amount of 280,000 tons of rice but has decided not to set a new fixed deadline [1].
This extension is intended to prevent the low-priced stockpiled rice from disrupting the market and affecting prices and supply-demand balance, especially as newly harvested rice is about to enter the market. However, the ministry expects the impact of the delay to be limited because prices for premium single-origin brand rice remain high [1][2].
In addition, approximately 500,000 tons of government-stockpiled rice will be released under no-bid contracts [1]. The ministry will announce the details of the decision to extend the sale deadline for government-stockpiled rice soon [1].
The decision to extend the deadline was made on Tuesday, August 19, and the ministry is allowing retailers to continue selling stockpiled rice beyond September [1]. The ministry made this decision due to concerns about the possible impact of stockpiled rice on demand for and prices of newly harvested rice [1].
Sources: [1] Jiji Press [2] NHK World
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