The price is skyrocketing and the shortage is evident. Now Japan is considering opening the national rice reserves, writes Financial Times.
This would be the first time since the tsunami disaster in 2011. The reserves were built up 30 years ago to have in reserve in case the country was hit by crop failures or natural disasters.
In one year, the price of rice in Japan has risen by over 50 percent. Opening the reserve stocks would be a way to curb price development and alleviate consumers' concerns about rice shortages in stores.
On the other hand – the sky-high prices are causing demand to decrease, which reduces the risk of a shortage of the coveted commodity. Last summer, Japanese households experienced the worst rice shortage since 1995, with empty store shelves and restrictions on how much rice consumers were allowed to buy.
