Zen-Noh Withdraws Govt-Stockpiled Rice from Storehouse

Tokyo, March 18 (Jiji Press)--Japan’s National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, or Zen-Noh, on Tuesday carried out from a storehouse government-stockpiled rice it purchased at an auction aimed at curbing recent increases in rice prices in the country.

The rice is part of some 140,000 tons of government-stockpiled rice sold at the auction, held from March 10 to Wednesday. For the auction, the government put up 150,000 tons of the 210,000 tons of reserved rice it plans to release.

This was the first release of government-stockpiled rice to ensure smooth distribution as the government had previously limited releases to responding to severe crop failures or major disasters. The focus is now on whether the latest release will lead to cuts in retail prices of rice.

On Tuesday morning, Zen-Noh transferred by forklift 12 tons of government-stockpiled rice, in 400 30-kilogram bags, into large trucks from a government-entrusted storehouse in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo. The bags were taken to a rice-processing facility in the prefecture.

The rice will go through wholesalers and is expected to be available in supermarkets and other shops as early as by the end of this month.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]