Japan forecasts steady 2010-11 non-GM soy reserves

Japan will keep its reserves of non-genetically modified (GM) soy steady at 7,200 tonnes in the 2010-11 fiscal year starting on April 1, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Tuesday (March 23).

An official said the ministry plans to spend JPY291 million (US$3.23 million), the same amount as the current financial year, on purchasing more costly non-GM soy.

The country will also keep unchanged from the current fiscal year its national reserve of soy at 31,000 tonnes, or equivalent to two-weeks of local consumption.

In the current fiscal year, the ministry doubled its purchase of non-GM soy to 7,200 tonnes from 3,600 tonnes the year before.

The official said the ministry plans to gradually boost the proportion of non-GM soy in the national reserves, aiming to make all its remaining soy GM free in the year starting in April 2013, while maintaining the total unchanged at 31,000 tonnes.

Japan, which relies on supplies from abroad to satisfy more than 90% of its soy demand, started to hold non-GM types of the bean in the national reserve in fiscal 2006/07.

The official also said the farm ministry will not reveal its estimates on soy supply and demand for the new business year before March 31, as more precise estimates are needed to compile the data.

For fiscal 2009-10, the ministry forecast soy imports of 3.72 million tonnes, up from 3.71 million tonnes in 2008-09. It also forecast soymeal imports of 1.69 million tonnes in 2009-10, up from 1.68 million tonnes in 2008-09.