Japan to release extra 200,000 tons of stockpiled rice as prices fall

Japan will release an additional 200,000 metric tons of stockpiled rice harvested in 2021 and 2020 through no-bid contracts to all retailers and rice shops, the farm ministry said Tuesday, as the grain’s price fell for the second consecutive week.

Major retailers, midsize and small supermarkets, and rice shops with their own rice millers are eligible to apply for 120,000 tons of rice harvested in 2021, including 20,000 tons of rice left unsold from the previous sale, from Wednesday. When those are sold out, the ministry will start selling 100,000 tons of rice from the 2020 harvest.

It will be the first time stockpiled rice produced in 2020 will hit stores.