Enjoy slurping that mie, because soon you may have to raise your instant noodle budget after an Indonesian official prophesied an imminent price hike.
Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo gave the warning yesterday as he bemoaned dwindling wheat imports into Indonesia.
“Not only do we have to deal with climate change, but we are also facing the Ukraine-Russia war, wherein 180 million tons of wheat is unable to be transported out [of Ukraine],” Syahrul said.
“Beware those who eat a lot of wheat-based noodles. Soon the price will triple.”
Syahrul conceded that he is “speaking in extremes” because while wheat imports continue, the cereal has already become so expensive.
“Meanwhile, we keep on importing wheat,” he added.
Indonesia’s most popular instant noodle producers indeed utilize wheat in their products. There have been concerns for months that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would lead to an instant noodle shortage, since Indonesia is one of Ukraine’s biggest wheat buyers.
However, instant noodle prices have mostly remained stable since the war began in February, with producers saying they had enough wheat in stock to prevent price hikes for this year, at least.
Judging by Syahrul’s comments, though, it seems that time of living on stocked wheat may soon be up.
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