Mills to pay 30% more for wheat from April

The government will raise the price at which it sells imported wheat to flour-milling companies by 30 percent in April, due in part to sharp rises in international prices amid increasing demand, the farm ministry said Friday.

Higher food demand in China and other countries and a dry spell in Australia, a major wheat producer, have sent wheat prices skyrocketing, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.

The price hike comes in the wake of last year's two rounds of markups — a 1.3 percent increase in April and a 10 percent hike in October.

The new markup is expected to affect Japanese households by sparking additional increases in the price of bread, noodles and other wheat products.

Nissin Food Products Co. raised prices of its Cup Noodle and other products in January by 7 percent to 11 percent for the first increase in 17 years.

Nissin President Koki Ando said in early February the instant noodle maker may conduct additional price hikes in light of upward pressure on wheat prices.

Under the official wheat distribution system, the government purchases 100 percent of the wheat imported to Japan, which relies on imports for 90 percent of its annual wheat consumption.

The government then sells all of the imported wheat to millers after adding a premium to the import price that goes to subsidize domestic wheat farmers. Last April, the government introduced a selling price-adjustment system that factors in fluctuations in international market prices.