SINGAPORE — Is Asia on the edge of another food supply crisis that will stoke inflation, protection and political unrest?
Some recent developments suggest that it is. Many Asian countries — including the biggest emerging economies China, India and Indonesia — are battling to curb soaring prices of some food items.
The farm ministry in Japan, Asia's second-biggest wheat importer, signaled recently that it planned to raise prices for flour millers as early as this month. This follows weather damage to wheat crops in Australia and North America, the main sources of supply to Japan where flour is used to make bread, noodles, dumplings and cookies.