South Korea: Food ministry urges companies to lower price of wheat flour to tackle high inflation

To tackle high inflation, the South Korean government urged major food companies to lower the price of wheat flour, the basic ingredient in many food menus. The flour companies said that they would review the possibility of price reduction in flour and other flour-based products. South Korea imports about 99 percent of wheat mainly from Australia (1.18 million tons), the United States (1.14 tons), and Canada (246,190 tons). About $1.2 billion worth of wheat was imported in 2022. $583.6 million worth of wheat for livestock feed was imported from India (42 percent) and Australia (37 percent). The self-sustainability rate for wheat in South Korea is about 1.1 percent. Wheat has been the center of Koreans’ diet for centuries and some 219,000 tons of wheat were produced in the country until the 1970s. However, through the U.S. Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act (PL480), surplus wheat was provided to South Korea as part of international aid after the Korean War ...