Japan counts on China's rice mart

Exports of Japanese-grown rice to China effectively restarted with a shipment that left Yokohama Port on June 24 - the first since 2003.

Domestic consumption of rice has been declining because of the falling birth rate, the greying of society and other factors.

For rice producers, the huge Chinese market is attractive because about 200 million tonnes of rice is consumed in China annually.

However, the price at which Japanese rice is sold in China poses a problem for Japanese exporters.

The rice is to retail at between 1,400 (Bt380) and 1,500 yen per kilogram in China, while the price of basic Chinese-grown rice is about ¥50. Japanese-branded rice produced in China sells for ¥150 per kilo. As a result, the price of exported Japanese rice will be 10 to 30 times higher than Chinese-grown rice.

Because of this, the first areas to be targeted will be China's coastal regions, where many of China's richest people live.

In China's urban areas, the disposable income of the top 10 per cent of income earners recently increased fourfold over

a 10-year period. It was 7,537 yuan (Bt34,200) a year in 1995, but 28,773 yuan in 2005.

Yet it is unlikely that most Chinese consumers will be able to afford Japanese rice in the near future.

However, Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has great expectations.

"High-quality rice produced in China loses its taste when it gets cold, but Japanese rice doesn't. If Japanese food, such as onigiri, becomes more popular, we can expect to see an increase in consumption," a ministry official said.

According to an official of a Japanese-run major supermarket in China, the key to expanding rice exports to China is "whether we can make Chinese consumers recognise the attractiveness and subtlety [of Japanese rice], which outweighs the price difference".

The Daily Yomiuri

Asia News Network

TOKYO