Gov’t to buy 450,000 tons of rice for reserves on price drop concerns

SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Yonhap) — The government will purchase a total of 450,000 tons of rice for its reserves this year as it seeks to stabilize prices of the staple grain, the agriculture ministry said Friday.

A total of 350,000 tons of rice to be harvested this year and 100,000 tons harvested last year will be isolated from the market starting Oct. 20 through December after the government and the ruling People Power Party (PPP) agreed earlier upon the step to counter prices falling, according to the ministry.

The amount is a sharp increase from the 350,000 tons purchased a year earlier and the largest tally since 2005.

The ministry said it will purchase the rice at the average market price.

South Korea has been struggling to cope with a glut of rice, key staple food for Koreans, and its falling prices on the constant decrease in consumption in recent decades due to changes in diet and eating habits.

The price of a 20-kilogram bag of rice fell 24.9 percent on-year this year to 40,725 won, marking the largest on-year decline since 1977, according to government data.