Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) is seeking to buy a total of 89,940 metric tons of food-quality wheat from the United States, Canada and Australia in a regular tender that will close on Thursday. Japan, the world's sixth-biggest wheat importer, keeps a tight grip on imports of its second-most important staple after rice, buying a majority of the grain for milling via tenders typically issued three times a month.

Details of the tender are as follows (in metric ton): COUNTRY TYPE QUANTITY U.S. Hard Red Winter(Semi Hard) 3,380 * U.S. Dark Northern Spring (protein minimum 14.0 pct) 23,070 * Canada Western Red Spring (protein minimum 13.5 pct) 34,910 ** Australia Standard White(West Australia) 28,580 *** Shipments: *Arriving by Dec 31 **Loading between Oct 21 and Nov 20 ***Loading between Dec 1 and Dec 31 Source: Ministry of Agriculture (Reporting by Fumika Inoue; Editing by Andrew Heavens)