Agriculture Minister Song Miryung Visits CJ CheilJedang: "Consumers Should Also Feel the Impact of Falling International Grain Prices"

Song Miryeong, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, visited CJ CheilJedang on the 19th and urged cooperation to ensure that consumers can feel the effects of the decline in international grain prices. Earlier that morning, CJ CheilJedang announced that it would lower the prices of consumer flour products starting from the 1st of next month.

On this day, Minister Song visited CJ CheilJedang's Yeongdeungpo factory to check the supply and price trends of flour. This on-site visit was arranged to emphasize the importance of stable supply and price stability of flour, which is used as a raw material for various processed foods such as bread and ramen, staple foods for ordinary people, and to seek cooperation measures with the industry.

Song Miryeong, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. (File photo)

Prior to Minister Song's visit, CJ CheilJedang decided to reduce prices by 3.2% to 10%, averaging 6.6%, for three types of flour products based on regular prices at large supermarkets: 1kg and 2.5kg of all-purpose flour and 3kg of flour for pancakes. A CJ CheilJedang official explained, "Although there are overall business difficulties, we implemented the price reduction in cooperation with the government's efforts to stabilize prices."

At the event, Minister Song said, "As international grain prices continue to decline, it is important that consumers can also feel the effects of the price drop," adding, "The government is also making efforts to ease the management burden of milling companies by promoting a flour price support project (54.6 billion KRW) during the grain price surge in 2022 and newly launching a 450 billion KRW flour purchase loan project this year." The wheat import price (1 ton), which recorded 496 dollars in September 2022, dropped to 390 dollars in June 2023, 324 dollars in October, and 335 dollars in February 2024.