Today (February 14), the Japanese government announced that it will open its rice reserves to prepare for emergency situations to cope with the skyrocketing rice prices.
Rice at a supermarket in central Tokyo in late November 2024
In the past, the Tokyo government has used the national rice reserve when natural disasters such as severe earthquakes occurred. However, this is the first time Japan has done so because a breakdown in distribution caused rice prices to skyrocket, according to AFP today, February 14.
Since rising last summer, Japanese rice prices have continued their upward trend amid supply shortages due to a drop in domestic rice production due to extreme weather in 2023.
Japan will be forced to continue to deal with rising temperatures next year, with 2024 becoming the hottest year in the country's recorded history. That same year, heat waves swept across the globe and set new heat records.
At a press conference on February 14, Agriculture Minister Taku Eto announced that the government will distribute 210,000 tons of rice from its 1 million-ton reserve to help stabilize the market.
"We want to improve the stagnation in distribution at all costs," the minister stressed.
Previously, the Tokyo government hoped that rice prices could return to stable levels when the new harvest season ends in the fall of 2024. However, rice prices continue to rise.
The average retail price of a 5-kg bag of rice is now 3,686 yen (about 614,000 VND), according to an official survey in February, up from 2,023 yen last year.
Last month, the Ministry of Agriculture relaxed its policy to allow the release of rice reserves in case of need to deal with high rice prices.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhat-ban-lan-dau-mo-kho-du-tru-gao-chuan-bi-tinh-huong-khan-cap-vi-gia-cao-185250214110446694.htm
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