March 15, 2011

Japan requests industry group to release corn from stockpiles

Japan, the largest corn buyer in the world, has requested an industry group to free feed grains, including corn from supplies to guarantee supply after the March 11 earthquake, the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

The ministry has requested the Tokyo-based Feed Supply Stabilisation Organisation to free up the reserves.

Corn, wheat, soy and rice futures plunged on Friday (Mar 11) after Japan was hit by a 8.9-magnitude temblor and a tsunami engulfed towns on the northern coast. The government was checking docks and grain stores for damage, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said on March 11. Farmland was flooded with burning wreckage in some areas as the tidal wave swept inland, images from state broadcaster NHK showed.

Japan imported 11 million tonnes of feed corn in the year ended March 31, 2010, with 96% of it from the US.

The country has corn and sorghum inventories of 600,000 tonnes for the year ending March 31, the agriculture ministry said on September 30. Corn accounts for approximately 90% of Japan's feed grains stored for this year, the ministry said.