Private Rice Stocks in Japan Jump 34 Pct in Dec.

Tokyo, Jan. 30 (Jiji Press)–Private rice stocks in Japan surged 34 pct from a year earlier to 3.38 million tons at the end of December, reflecting slow rice sales due to elevated prices, an agriculture ministry report showed Friday. This is the third-highest December figure in a decade, after 3.49 million tons in 2021 and 3.42 million tons in 2020. Of the latest amount, 2.6 million tons were kept by rice collectors, including agricultural cooperatives, up 33 pct, and 780,000 tons by wholesalers, up 39 pct. Private rice stocks usually peak at the end of November and then decrease, but this time, they increased by 90,000 tons in December. Meanwhile a survey by a major rice collector showed that 2.49 million tons of rice harvested in 2025 had been collected by the end of December, up 16 pct from a year before. However, the amount of rice sold by collectors to wholesalers dropped 19 pct to 500,000 tons, the lowest figure since comparable data became available in December 2014. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]