Japan's Ministry of Agriculture seeks to buy a total 128,000 tonnes of food wheat in a regular tender that closes on July 9, a ministry official said on Friday. Of that amount, two shipments of a total 46,000 tonnes of Australian standard white are due in November, while the remaining cargoes totalling 82,000 tonnes are for loading in October, the official said.
The ministry usually buys wheat from abroad about two to three months ahead of shipments, but the tender for the two cargoes of the Australian origin is further in advance than usual. Asked about the early purchase, another farm ministry official said it had been moving forward buying from Australia related to the end, effective July 1, of the country's monopoly on marketing that was held by Australia's AWB Ltd. "Behind our purchase of November cargoes this time lies the end of AWB's monopoly," the second official told Reuters.
In the previous regular tender on Thursday, the ministry bought a total 96,000 tonnes of Australian standard white for loading in October and in September. Along with US and Canadian origins, the ministry at that time bought a total 202,000 tonnes of food wheat.
Japan, the world's fourth-largest wheat importer, plans to buy 4.99 million tonnes of food wheat in the fiscal year to next March, up nearly 4 percent from a year earlier.