The agriculture ministry said Friday that it has selected successful bidders for 141,796 tons of government-stockpiled rice in the initial round of an auction aimed at curbing recent increases in rice prices.
The weighted average of the auctioned rice prices came to ¥21,217 per 60 kilograms. The rice is expected to hit store shelves as early as late this month.
“If such a large amount is released onto the market, the supply-demand balance will naturally improve to a certain extent, and I expect that consumers will approve the result,” agriculture minister Taku Eto told a news conference, expressing confidence that rice prices will fall.