(Update) Japan Rice Price to Wholesalers Posts 1st Fall in 8 Months

   Tokyo, April 18 (Jiji Press)--The average price of rice harvested in Japan in 2024 and sold to wholesalers in March fell month-on-month for the first time in eight months, the agriculture ministry said Friday.
   The average price for 60 kilograms of unmilled rice stood at 25,876 yen, down 2 pct from February, apparently reflecting the sale of some government-stockpiled rice released in March. But it was up 68 pct from the average price of 2023 rice a year before.
   The figure is the average of transaction prices between wholesalers and rice buyers dealing with farmers, such as the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, or Zen-Noh. It logged a record high in February due to competition among buyers rushing to secure supplies.
   The agriculture ministry also published the transaction prices of stockpiled rice at different points in the distribution process, surveyed over two weeks from March 17, after the first round of bidding for government rice. Prices of stockpiled rice sold to wholesalers averaged 24,194 yen, 1,682 yen lower than the overall mean.
   According to the survey, buyers received 4,071 tons of stockpiled rice from the government, of which 426 tons, or just 0.3 pct of the roughly 140,000 tons sold in the first bidding round on March 10-12, arrived at retailers such as supermarkets and rice stores via wholesalers.

(2025/04/18-21:13)