Japan: Grain and Feed Annual
High prices for Japanese table rice led to Japan’s full utilization of the simultaneous buy and sell quota (100,000 MT), and are expected to lead to continued opportunities in the coming year. Moreover, Japanese production of wheat is forecast to remain unchanged (860,000 metric tons (MT)) in marketing year (MY) 2018/19, leading to similar prospects for foreign wheat in MY2018/19 (5.8 million MT). Given competitive prices for corn, FAS/Tokyo forecasts Japan will import 15.3 million MT in MY 2018/19. This increased demand, however, is likely to come at the expense of sorghum where demand is forecast to fall to 500,000 MT in MY2017/18 and remain at that level in MY 2018/19. Lastly, strong demand continues for high beta glucan barley leading to continued import growth in MY2018/19 (increasing total barley imports to 1.3 million MT).
