Japan's Ministry of Agriculture will not buy food quality wheat via a regular tender this week, but plans to conduct tenders over the following three weeks in January, an official at the bureau said on Wednesday.
The ministry usually seeks food wheat from the United States, Canada and Australia via tenders it announces on the first three Tuesdays of every month and closes on the first three Thursdays.
The official said the tender was being skipped because much of Japan has just returned to work this week after New Year holidays last week.
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 the tenders.
