TMCnet News
Nippon Meat Packers to up pork processed product prices by 10%+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, April 5_(Kyodo) _ Nippon Meat Packers Inc. is planning to raise the prices of its pork-based processed goods such as ham and sausage as well as other food products by an average 10 percent, starting in June, due to higher prices of pork imports, company officials said. Itoham Foods Inc. and Marudai Food Co., major makers of ham and sausage products, are also considering hiking the prices of their products, officials at the companies said. Prices of imported pork have been pushed up by higher demand among consumers who have been scared by the news of mad cow disease and avian influenza. The news has dented demand for beef and chicken-based food items, Nippon Meat officials said. The types of products for which Nippon Meat is considering price hikes traverse a wide range of its products areas, including pizza and other prepared food items. A Nippon Meat official said, "We have determined that our efforts to cut back on costs would not be sufficient to deal with pork price hikes, as pork prices are expected to keep rising" in the coming months. An Itoham official said, "Our profit margins have been rendered to levels close to their slimmest-ever levels as a result of upsurges in our material prices." Pork demand globally has been rising in recent years as the breakouts of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and bird flu have caused many consumers to prefer pork-based products to beef and chicken. In addition, greater pork consumption among Russian and Chinese consumers has stoked demand, putting upward price pressure on pork products. The values of pork imports have risen nearly 10 percent during the past 12 months, industry officials said. What has made the situation worse for processed food makers is a surge in prices of cheese for use in pizza, they added. |