Japan Wheat Prices:

 Article Source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20220813/p2g/00m/0bu/016000c

Article:

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Japanese government plans to keep unchanged the average price at which it sells imported wheat to milling companies from October onward despite soaring inflation, an official with knowledge of the matter said Saturday.

The plan is aimed at easing the burden on households suffering from higher prices of wheat products such as bread and noodles on the back of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Both countries are leading producers of wheat.

Ideas:

Inflation of wheat products probably affects a lot of products in Japan which is a big noodle and ramen consuming country.

At this point if the Japanese government is using price controls, not allowing wheat prices to get past a certin level, its probably a good idea for consumers and especially low-income consumers who might eat a lot of ramen everyday.

But it might be a challenge companies that produce ramena and other wheat related to products as if their are price controls related to what companies can charge the final consumer, then if could be a definite challenge.

But if the government is using a different scheme that helps both consumers and companies then its not such a challenge.

Article:

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is set to instruct officials to curb the wholesale price at a government task force to be held on Monday. The price could rise by 20 percent without government action, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The government raised its selling price of imported wheat by an average 17.3 percent in April to 72,530 yen ($540) per ton, the second-highest level since the current calculation methods were adopted in 2007, according to the farm ministry.

The government revises the price twice a year -- in April and October -- based on the average price of wheat that the government imported in the past six months.

Ideas:

Wheat type products might be affected by the Unkrain situation as wheat and other are big exports of the Ukraine region.

So maybe, if possible, Japan and other countries are already looking at or have already expanded their supply sources relate to wheat and other products.

Wheat is a more commodity and its usually traded in bulk supplies on large commodity trade markets such the commodity market in Chicago.

If the global supply of wheat is being affected by the Ukraine situation then there is a definite shortage which is going to push up the prices globally related to wheat.

Article:

Japan, which depends on overseas producers for about 80 percent of its domestic wheat consumption, imports the commodity in bulk as a country and then resells it to milling companies in order to ensure stable supply.

Kishida, who reshuffled his Cabinet on Wednesday, has vowed to stem soaring prices of essential items as many consumers have decried the heavier financial burden.

He said price stability is "crucial" during a meeting with operators of supermarkets and bread companies on Friday.

Ideas:

Prime Minister Kishida might be saying one thing of course as politicians sometimes do, but in reality, whether good or bad, sometimes they can't work out the details of what they want to do, and society and consumers are left waiting for changes to take place.

Real price controls might needed for consumers and for companies to ensure that markets are not compromised on both sides. If price controls are only used to help consumers it might not help companies if they too don't see some kind of controls related to price increases.

But prices controls are usually only a temporary fix and should not be used too often as they might disrupt the normal flow of a market or an economy.

But if the Japanese government feels its to do it now, then its probably the correct time as Japan has not seen these kinds of price increases for a very long time and maybe consumers don't really know how to cope with the increases in prices. 

Have a nice day and be safe!