The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has announced a policy to open a "spot market" to determine the price of rice based on supply and demand as early as next fall, in order to conduct highly transparent transactions that capture consumer needs.
Currently, the price of rice is mainly determined through discussions between collectors such as the JA Group and wholesalers. I was.
To improve this situation, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has announced a policy to open a spot market that determines the price of rice based on supply and demand as early as next fall.
Since the distribution economics research institute, a private think tank, will be the main body of operation, it is expected that the number of transactions and shipping methods will be discussed in the future.
At a press conference after the cabinet meeting on the 29th, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Nomura said, ``I expect that there will be a market that shows price indicators that reflect supply and demand.'' I think we can do it," he expressed his expectations.
However, regarding the rice market, although the Osaka Dojima Commodity Exchange was conducting futures trading on a trial basis, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said, ``The number of producers and distributors participating in the transaction has not increased, and the approval criteria have not been met. ”, etc., and has been abolished without the necessary authorization for full-scale transactions.
The challenge is whether the newly established spot market can secure a sufficient trading volume and increase the transparency of rice prices.