Japan Govt Starts Receiving Bids for Stockpiled Rice

Tokyo, March 10 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese agriculture ministry started receiving bids for stockpiled rice on Monday in an effort to curb soaring prices by addressing supply shortfalls.

In the initial round of the auction, the ministry will sell 150,000 tons of 210,000 tons of reserved rice it plans to release.

It is the first release of stockpiled rice to relieve distribution bottlenecks. Previously, the government had limited releases to cases of serious poor harvests and large-scale disasters.

Released rice is expected to hit store shelves as early as late March. The ministry will sell stockpiled rice to major buyers on the condition that it will buy back the rice within a year.

Rice prices have been soaring as major buyers such agricultural cooperatives are racing to secure supplies.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]