When the Tokyo Grain Exchange, operator of the nation's largest agricultural bourse, bet its future on rice trading, it didn't expect radiation fallout would be part of investor decisions and volatility.
The exchange will list rice contracts Monday for the first time since the start of World War II to boost flagging volumes and profit. The resumption comes amid concern that fallout from the stricken Fukushima No. 1 power plant may spread to crops after it was found cattle had been fed cesium-tainted rice straw.
"The nuclear disaster adds to factors that could influence prices," said Takaki Shigemoto, a commodity analyst at research company JSC Corp. in Tokyo. "Rice futures may attract speculative money."
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