Japanese government launch 200,000 tons of state reserves rice

By Alimat Aliyeva

Japan is about to flood the market with almost a quarter of a million tons of rice shares in an unprecedented movement to combat price increases caused by record problems of heat, purchase of panic and distribution, Azernews information.

On Friday, Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Taku Eto, announced that the Government would release up to 210,000 tons of rice to the market, since consumers have been dealing with price increases of more than 50 percent in recent months.

Speaking just before the decision was made, Eto emphasized that the government generally does not intervene in the market, but acknowledged that the recent price increase “has had a significant impact on people’s lives,” according to The Guardian.

According to the government, the average retail price of a 5 kg rice bag has increased to 3,688 yen ($ 24), compared to 2,023 yen last year.

Although the Japanese government has previously used its rice reserves in response to natural disasters or crop failures, this is the first time it intervenes specifically to address distribution problems, such as supply chain interruptions that have increased prices .

Japan rice stocks have already been exhausted after the impact of record temperatures on the 2023 harvest. Actions decreased further last year, partly due to the increase in consumption driven by a record number of tourists. In addition, the purchase of panic in response to warnings about typhons and earthquakes forced some retailers to limit sales.

The price of rice continued to rise even after increasing initially last summer, since the shortage caused by extreme temperatures in the previous year led to an increase in demand.

The government expected prices to stabilize once the new rice harvest goes on sale last fall, but prices increases persisted.

The Ministry of Agriculture of Japan generally buys around 200,000 tons of rice annually for its emergency reserves, storing it for five years before selling it, often reusing it as animal food.

The practice of storing rice began in 1995 after an important failure of the harvest two years before triggered the purchase of panic, highlighting the importance of rice as a basic food in Japan. The current situation underlines how climate change, natural disasters and global challenges of the supply chain are increasingly affecting food safety. As a result, Japan dependence on strategic rice reserves and its market interventions can become more common in the future to safeguard its national food supply.