Retail prices of imported beef rose in the two weeks to last Friday for the first time in five weeks, while prices of domestically produced beef fell for the first time in two weeks, the government said Monday.
The nationwide average retail price per 100 grams of imported chilled loin beef rose 2 yen, or 0.5 percent, from the week to April 23, hitting 362 yen, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said.
The average retail price per 100 grams of domestically produced beef fell 7 yen, or 1 percent, to 673 yen, the ministry said.
"The prices of both domestically produced and imported beef are still high since the import ban on U.S. beef imposed last December," said an official at the ministry's Food Safety and Consumer Affairs Bureau.