ANN/THE KOREA HERALD – South Korea’s leading instant noodle maker announced plans to raise the prices of its noodles and snack products next week, citing increased raw material costs. Starting March 17, retail prices for 14 noodle products will rise by 7.2 per cent and three snack items by 7.4 per cent.
The price of one popular noodle product will increase to KRW1,000 (USD0.69) from KRW950, while the price of a popular snack will rise to KRW1,500 from KRW1,400.
“The price hike is inevitable to reflect the won’s weakness (against the dollar) and rising raw materials prices,” a company spokesperson said.
The weak won has increased the cost of raw materials like palm oil and starch, which are mostly imported.
The company stated it is adjusting the prices of its products to the levels seen before July 2023, when government pressure had forced a price reduction to reflect falling grain costs.
It has six domestic plants and six overseas ones – two in the United States and four in China. It sells instant noodle products represented by its flagship Shin Ramyun, Chapagetti and Neoguri noodles in global markets.
For all of 2024, Nongshim’s net profit fell 8.1 per cent on-year to USD157.63 billion partly due to higher costs.
Operating profit dipped 23 per cent on-year to USD163.07 billion last year, while sales rose 0.8 per cent to KRW3.44 trillion.
Nongshim earned about 70 per cent of the overall sales from ramyeon sales in global markets.
