Only 6,767 tons, or 27 percent of total imported rice amounting to 25,000 tons, were purchased through the second simultaneous buy-and-sell (SBS) orders conducted in fiscal 2013, amid lowering prices of domestically-grown rice, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced Tuesday, October 22.
Purchases of rice imported under the minimum access scheme continued to fall short of the expected trading amount, following the first SBS trading conducted this year. It is the first time since fiscal 2010 that purchases of imported rice continue to be less than the expected trading volume.
Traders predict that transactions will continue to be sluggish, as prices of domestically-grown rice remain low and buyers find little merit in purchasing imported rice.
Purchase orders for imported rice traded under the SBS system was 126, a quarter of 534 orders made in the second SBS in fiscal 2012, reflecting importers’ lack of willingness to buy.
The price of table rice was 207 yen, down 29 percent from the second SBS last year. Wholesalers say that most of imported table rice is used by food service chains and restaurants, but this year even such companies prefer to purchase domestically-grown rice.
After the incident of a rice wholesaler in Mie Prefecture fraudulently claiming the origin of its rice products surfaced last month, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of origin and traceability, and becoming more cautious about the use of imported rice, further discouraging purchases of foreign rice, rice traders say.
According to varieties, American-grown, non-glutinous cleaned rice was priced at 234 yen per kg, while Australian non-glutinous cleaned rice was 203 yen per kg, 24 to 40 percent lower than the previous year. Chinese non-glutinous cleaned rice was not purchased at all.
(Oct. 24, 2013)