TOKYO, March. 9 ― Japan will slash its sales prices for imported wheat by 1.7 percent from April, due to a drop in freight costs and a cut in the country’s mark-up prices following the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.
The agriculture ministry announced on March 8 that it will set the weighted average selling prices for five varieties at 54,630 yen a metric ton.
Japan has cut its mark-up prices on imported wheat, a move to lower the cost of imported wheat for Japanese millers and help them to compete with wheat imports.
Japan is one of the world’s largest wheat importing country, with 90 percent of 6 million metric tons of annual consumption coming from overseas, mainly the U.S., Canada and Australia.
Wheat imports from Canada and Australia, members of the TPP without the U.S., also known as TPP-11, account for about half of Japan’s. annual consumption coming from overseas.
The agriculture ministry exclusively imports and resells the imported wheat to domestic flour millers at a fixed price, which can be revised twice a year. Its selling price is based on the average import costs over the previous six months.