Japan First crop shows arrival of new rice will unlikely dent prices
Japan’s early rice prices have surged 50–80% over last year, with JA branches paying record advance rates for premium varieties like Koshihikari. Retail prices now exceed 4,000 yen per 5 kg, and shoppers report affordability concerns. Experts warn autumn harvest risks from heat and drought may drive further increases.
Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA) branches are paying much more for early rice than last year, meaning that rice prices will likely remain high even after the newly harvested crop arrives.
The city of Amakusa in Kumamoto Prefecture was at the height of harvesting early-crop rice earlier this month, shortly before the area was hit by heavy rains.
JA Amakusa’s advance payment for the first-grade Koshihikari variety was 29,000 yen ($196) per 60 kilograms, about 60 percent higher than last year.
“This is an unprecedented price,” said Norihiro Shiraishi, 70, who heads a local agricultural corporation. “With this level of price, we can continue rice farming.”
The harvest of early-crop rice is under way in Kyushu, Shikoku and other regions ahead of the main season for newly harvested rice.
Agricultural cooperatives usually pay by rough estimate in advance when they collect rice from farmers and finalize formal purchase prices later.
In major rice-producing areas, the amounts of these provisional payments for early rice have increased about 50 to 80 percent from last year.
Fierce competition to procure rice among distributors has likely forced sharp increases, but the hikes directly impact retail rice prices.
JA Miyazaki’s advance payment for Koshihikari is 32,000 yen per 60 kg, about 80 percent higher than last year.
Some early-harvest rice is already hitting store shelves.
One variety sold at Co-op Miyazaki is priced at a tax-inclusive 4,731 yen per 5 kg, about 2,000 yen more than the same period the previous year.
At an Inageya supermarket in Soka, Saitama Prefecture, newly harvested Koshihikari from Miyazaki Prefecture is sold for a tax-inclusive 4,525 yen per 5 kg, about 1,000 yen higher than the blended domestic rice sold alongside it.
JA Kochi’s advance payment for Nangoku Sodachi, an early-rice variety, is 22,700 yen per 60 kg, about 50 percent higher than last year.
At supermarkets in Kochi Prefecture, newly harvested rice of other varieties is sold for about 5,000 yen per 5 kg.
“It is too expensive,” a shopper in her 50s said. “I have not bought any.”
In Chiba Prefecture, a major rice-producing area in the Kanto region, JA Zen-Noh Chiba is said to be offering more than 20,000 yen per 60 kg in advance payment for Koshihikari, several thousand yen higher than last year.
A rice wholesaler in the Kanto region said the retail price of this year’s newly harvested rice will likely be about 4,000 yen per 5 kg, including tax, because the amounts of advance payments have increased in many regions.
The average price of rice sold at about 1,000 supermarkets nationwide in the week through Aug. 3 was 3,542 yen per 5 kg, including tax, according to the agriculture ministry.
The figure fell about 700 yen from the peak due to the release of government reserves through negotiated contracts, but the average retail price has shown signs of stabilizing since July.
In addition, the deadline for retailers selling rice from government stockpiles is set at the end of August. A reduction in the supply of low-priced rice can contribute to price increases.
Katsuhito Fuyuki, a professor of agricultural marketing at Tohoku University’s Graduate School, said newly harvested rice will remain expensive for a while because advance payments for early-crop rice are high.
He pointed to the risk of further price rises if water shortages caused by extreme heat and low rainfall affect the quality and yield of new rice that will be harvested in autumn in the Hokuriku and Tohoku regions.
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Source : Asahi
