Bags of the government’s rice stockpile were wheeled out of storage on Tuesday after a distributor acquired it at auction.
The rice is expected to hit the shelves as early as next week and it is hoped the move will help lower the staple's price, which is reaching record highs.
The agriculture ministry auctioned off a portion of its emergency rice stockpile of about 1 million metric tons for three days from March 10. Seven distributors took part in the auction for a total of 141,796 tons at an average price of ¥21,217 per 60 kilograms, and around 94% of the 150,579 tons of rice put up for auction were sold.
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