TOKYO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Japan's Ministry of Agriculture is seeking to buy a total of 146,000 tonnes of food quality wheat from the United States, Canada and Australia in a regular tender that will close late on Wednesday.
A tender is normally announced on Tuesday and executed on Thursday. However, the schedule was changed this week due to a Japanese holiday on Thursday, an official with the ministry said.
Japan, the world's sixth-biggest wheat importer, keeps a tight grip on imports of the country's second most important staple after rice and buys the majority of the grain for milling via tenders typically issued three times a month.
Details are as follows (in tonnes):
COUNTRY
TYPE
QUANTITY
U.S.
Western White
7,450*
Hard Red Winter
22,630*
(semi hard)
Western White
24,300*
Canada
Western Red Spring
29,830*
(protein minimum 13.5 pct)
Australia
Standard White
34,080**
(West Australia)
Standard White
27,710***
(West Australia)
Shipments:
* Loading between March 21 and April 20
** Loading between April 1 and April 30
***Loading between May 1 and May 31
Source: Ministry of Agriculture