Yen Drop Means Wheat Gains as Foodmaker Profits Hit, Nomura Says

Wheat prices in Japan, Asia’s second-biggest importer of the grain, are poised to climb the most since 2011 as the weakening yen increases costs for food producers, according to Nomura Holdings Inc.

The government, which controls wheat imports and domestic sales to stabilize supply, is likely to boost prices for flour mills by about 10 percent from the current average of 50,130 yen ($539) per metric ton, Satoshi Fujiwara, vice president at Nomura’s equity research department, said in an interview. Any change in prices, which are reviewed twice a year, will be announced by the end of this month and take effect in April, said Hiromi Iwahama, a director of grains trading at the agriculture ministry.