Japan, Asia's largest wheat importer, is seeking to buy 92,000 metric tons of milling wheat at a tender to be held March 19, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said Tuesday.

The ministry plans to buy 50,000 tons, or 54 percent of the total, from the U.S., the world's largest wheat exporter. Shipment is set for May, according to the ministry.

The volume is the smallest since Feb. 1, when the ministry bought 41,000 tons of U.S. wheat at a regular tender.

Japan has so far bought a total of 5,033,500 tons of milling wheat at regular import tenders for the fiscal year to March 31, surpassing 4,794,000 tons it purchased in the previous fiscal year through regular tenders.