In shady transactions of intentionally mispriced rice imported under the state-controlled “simultaneous buy and sell” (SBS) system, it was revealed on September 22, one of rice wholesalers in western Japan had been paid by trading houses a maximum of around 60 yen per kilogram of rice under the context of what they call “adjustment money.” The amount of the “adjustment money” is converted to some 3600 yen per “hyo,” 60-kilogram sack of rice.
With the “adjustment money” paid by trading firms, the wholesaler sold the SBS imported rice to users of the food service industry at prices lower than successful bid prices announced by the Government.
The shady deals of imported rice possibly made a negative impact on pricings in the market of domestically-grown rice, being forced to compete with cheaper imported rice.
Executives of a medium-sized rice wholesaler based in the western part of Japan unveiled the real state of SBS imported rice transactions at an interview conducted by a reporter of the Japan Agricultural News.
This rice wholesaler has paired up with multiple trading houses to take part in the SBS tenders for more than ten years.
“The so-called adjustment money has been paid to us since the beginning of SBS system. In 2011 and 2012, prices of domestic rice were so expensive. The adjustment money was raised to more than 60 yen per kilogram at that time,” one of the wholesaler’s executives definitely told the reporter of the Agricultural News.