Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Wheat Demand in Japan Not Hurt by Earthquake, Agriculture Ministry Says

Japan, the second largest wheat importer in Asia, will increase purchases of milling wheat by 21 percent this fiscal year, demand was not affected by the earthquake of March 11 and the tsunami, the Ministry of Agriculture said currently.
The volume of purchases of milling wheat, will increase to 5.16 million tonnes for the year ended March 31, 4.26 million tonnes last year, said Shira Shiokawa, director of the grain trade in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
The ministry confirmed that seven ports in eastern and northern prefectures of the country are open to unload the wheat imported from the supply ship flour milling facilities in the region, Shiokawa said. The death toll following the earthquake of 9 earthquake and tsunami of 9199 was 11 hours local time yesterday, according to the National Police Agency in Tokyo. Tokyo Electric Power Co. has been struggling to avoid collapse in a nuclear plant halted after losing the electricity that helps distribute the water cooling units.
"The earthquake did not cause significant damage to flour milling operations, the import of wheat and in Japan," Shiokawa said in a telephone interview today. "We see no negative impact of the disaster in the demand for grain."
The Ministry may issue its forecast Japanese demand for wheat for the next fiscal year later this month, Shiokawa said.