Japan government stockpiled rice reaches consumers
The Japanese government's stockpiles of rice that are sold directly to retail firms are now on sale at retail outlets. Attention is focused on whether the widespread sale of the stockpiles will help bring down rice prices.
Amid the soaring price of rice that has been hitting households, the Japanese government began releasing its stockpiles through direct contracts.
A total of 300,000 tons of stockpiled rice harvested in 2021 and 2022 are on sale through no-bid contracts.
5-kilogram bags of rice on sale at around 2,000 yen, or about 14 dollars, were spotted at some stores on Sunday.
A number of people are visiting supermarkets and other outlets to buy stockpiled rice.
On Sunday, Agriculture Minister Koizumi Shinjiro says he thinks the release of stockpiled rice may help lower all rice prices to some extent.
The agriculture ministry is also accepting applications from small and mid-sized retailers to buy government-stockpiled rice from Friday.
A total of 80,000 tons harvested in 2021 are up for sale through no-bid contracts.
The ministry says it has already received about 1,300 applications.
It says it will temporarily stop accepting applications from rice retailers on Monday afternoon, saying applications might account for all the rice set to be released.
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