Zen-Noh Vows to Market Govt-Stockpiled Rice Soon

Tokyo, March 17 (Jiji Press)--Japan’s National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, or Zen-Noh, said Monday that it will distribute government-stockpiled rice it bought at an auction last week to reliable wholesalers as soon as possible.

In its guidelines for handling the stockpiled rice, Zen-Noh also said that it will set prices for the rice by adding only necessary costs such as transportation and storage fees to the price it paid at the auction.

In response to the supply shortage, the auction of about 150,000 tons of stockpiled rice was held for three days through Wednesday, and about 140,000 tons were sold.

Zen-Noh did not disclose its results in the auction, but a senior official said the group bought quite a lot of rice.

The auctioned rice is expected to be delivered to Zen-Noh and other buyers soon and sold in supermarkets and other stores from later this month.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]