Japan Govt to Buy Back 210,000 Tons of Rice after Stockpile Release

Tokyo, Sept. 1 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government will buy back 210,000 tons of rice after it released some of its stockpiles since last year, agriculture minister Norikazu Suzuki told a press conference Tuesday. The purchase will cover rice from the 2025 crop, whose inventories are high. Contracts will be concluded this month. The decision followed the announcement of the 2026 rice harvest estimate on Monday. Suzuki said, “It has been confirmed that sufficient supplies of rice will be secured.” He hinted at the possibility of buying back more rice, saying, “We will proceed (with buybacks) appropriately while monitoring the supply-demand condition.” The government believes 1 million tons are the appropriate level for its rice reserves. But the state reserves have fallen to 320,000 tons mainly because 590,000 tons were released for consumption as a staple food since last year to ease the supply shortage at the time. The government has already decided to buy back 210,000 tons from the 2026 crop. Still, restoring the government stockpiles, which remain low, is an urgent issue from the standpoint of food security. Rice prices, which had stayed above 4,000 yen per 5 kilograms until early March this year, are now on a downtrend and stand below 3,500 yen. Attention has been on whether the government’s buybacks from the market will tighten the supply-demand balance and affect prices. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]