Nov 14 (Japan Times) - For the first time in almost three decades the Salt Industry Center of Japan has announced it will raise the price on many of its products by around 15 percent, indicating inflation has finally arrived in at least some industries.
“Costs have been rising for a long period of time so this year we finally had to raise the price,†a spokesperson for the center said Tuesday in a phone call with The Japan Times.
The organization, which sells a salt shaker found on many Japanese kitchen tables and restaurants, said that in April the price for a 300-gram pack of table salt will rise to ¥153, from ¥144.
Other prominent food suppliers appear to be following a similar path. On Monday, Nippon Flour Mills Co. announced it will increase prices for flour by 1 to 3 percent in January.
But despite these price hikes, the overall economy remains mired in sluggish inflation.
According to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, the core consumer price index, excluding the effects of volatile energy and food, inched up by only 0.4 percent in September on a year-on-year basis.
