Most Rice Released by Govt Not Yet Available to Consumers

   Tokyo, May 20 (Jiji Press)--Most of the government-stockpiled rice released through auctions in March has not become available to consumers, an agriculture ministry survey showed Tuesday.
   A total of 212,132 tons of such rice was sold at the auctions. Of the total, only 14,998 tons, or about 7 pct, had been distributed to retailers as of April 27, according to the survey.
   Even including rice distributed to restaurants and others, the distribution rate was about 10 pct.
   The survey results suggest that the release of government-stockpiled rice has not helped lower elevated rice prices in Japan.
   The distribution rate for the released rice rose from about 1.4 pct, or about 2.0 pct including rice distributed to restaurants and others, in the previous survey through April 13.

(2025/05/20-18:11)

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