Imports of rush, or tatami straw, continued to surge in the week to Dec. 21 over a year before, but those of stone leeks and shiitake fell, according to government data released Wednesday. The drop was attributed to voluntary efforts by Chinese exporters.
Before Friday's settlement of the Japan-China trade row over the three farm products, rush imports had soared 2.62 times to 2,166 tons for the sixth consecutive weekly increase, the Finance Ministry said. Imports of leeks, however, dipped for the second straight week by 2 percent to 1,280 tons, while imports of shiitake were down for the fifth successive week by 23 percent to 1,470 tons, it said.
The latest trade data showed imports in the six weeks after the Nov. 8 end of Japan's temporary import curbs on the three products were up 18 percent for leeks over the same period last year to 8,853 tons, down 11 percent for shiitake to 9,409 tons, and up 2.16 times for rushes to 11,486 tons.