Rice prices in Japan’s supermarkets near record high
Rice prices in Japan are nearing record highs, with a 5-kg bag averaging ¥4,275 (\~\$29) in mid-September, up about ¥80 from the previous week. Prices have risen for three consecutive weeks. Annual demand is expected to stay around 7 million tons, including inbound tourists, correcting past underestimations that contributed to recent price surges.
The average price of rice sold at supermarkets across Japan has risen to a level just shy of the record high reached in mid-May.
A survey by the agriculture ministry shows the price of a 5-kilogram bag of the staple food cost 4,275 yen, or nearly 29 dollars, in the second week of September. That’s up about 80 cents from the week before.
The survey, which covers about 1,000 supermarkets, shows prices rose for the third straight week to close in on the all-time high of 4,285 yen.
The ministry says actual demand for the staple is expected to remain mostly unchanged in the year through next June, at about 7 million tons.
Officials included demand from inbound tourists this time around, after their estimates fell far below actual consumption over the past two years.
In those previous forecasts, the ministry believed demand would fall by around 100,000 tons a year due to the declining population and other factors. The erroneous projections have been cited as one reason behind the surge in rice prices over the past year.
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Source : NHK World
