The Japanese government has started to roll out a rare auction of its emergency rice stockpiles in a bid to help drive down the surging price of the national staple.
Rice shortages that have been driven by factors ranging from poor harvests caused by hot weather to panic-buying over a “megaquake” warning last summer have caused prices to nearly double over a year.
Exacerbating the problem, some businesses are also thought to be keeping their inventories and waiting for the most opportune time to sell.
Japan on average stores about a million tonne of rice for emergencies.
The country has previously tapped into these reserves during disasters, but this is the first time since the stockpile was built in 1995 that supply chain problems are behind the move.
The agriculture ministry is expected to select successful bidders for 150,000 tonnes of rice by tomorrow, with the auctioned grain expected to hit store shelves by the end of the month.
The ministry says it plans to release another 60,000 tonnes if necessary.
“This is a highly-irregular situation,” agriculture minister Taku Eto told parliament yesterday.
“By sorting out the clogged parts of the distribution network, we hope to relieve the hardship experienced by consumers.”
Experts say several factors have also contributed to the crisis.
Among them is a tourism boom and shortages caused by record heatwaves in recent years, as Japan, like other countries, experiences the effects of human- driven climate change.
In August last year, shelves in some stores were emptied after the government warned of a possible “megaquake” along with one of the fiercest typhoons in decades and the annual Obon holiday. — AFP
