Rice prices at supermarkets across Japan continue to climb. The retail price nudged up for the 15th straight week, despite the government release of national stockpiles in an effort to stabilize distribution.
The agriculture ministry says the average price for a 5-kilogram bag of rice was 4,217 yen, or roughly 30 dollars, for the week through April 13. That's based on a survey of about 1,000 supermarkets nationwide.
The price was up 0.1 percent from the previous week and more than double from the year before.
The government sold more than 140,000 tons of national stockpiles in its first auction in March. But only 0.3 percent of that grain had hit store shelves by the end of the month.
Orikasa Shunsuke, a Principal Researcher of Distribution Economics Institute of Japan says: "It's unlikely that the rice prices will continue to rise further. They will remain high for a while, but the upward trend will probably come to an end from now on."
Orikasa points to ministry figures showing wholesale prices in March went down from the previous month. He forecasts that the average retail price will drop to around 3,500 yen per 5 kilograms. That's about 25 dollars.
The government plans to continue releasing national stockpiles every month until the summer to try and relieve the situation.