２１年度のバター輸入枠半減、６４００トン　コロナで消費低迷

　農林水産省は２９日、新型コロナウイルス感染拡大で消費が低迷しているバターについて、２０２１年度の輸入枠を前年度比約５４％減の６４００トンに縮小すると発表した。在庫が積み上がっているため、輸入を大幅に減らして需給調整する。（2021/01/29-18:37）

Japan will slash the butter import quota in fiscal 2021 by some 54 pct from the previous year to 6,400 tons, as butter inventories have increased amid a consumption slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the agriculture ministry.
   As of the end of 2020, butter inventories in Japan totaled 35,000 tons, up 49 pct from a year earlier, the ministry said Friday.
   The sharp increase reflected producers' efforts to process leftover raw milk into butter and other products that can be stored for a long time. An oversupply of raw milk was created as demand of milk for school lunch vanished during emergency school closures in the country in spring last year, which were aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19.
   Butter inventories grew also because the pandemic led to a fall in butter demand for use by confectionery makers and restaurants.