Worst Is Yet to Come for Food Inflation in Asia, Nomura Warns

Asia’s red-hot food prices will likely heat up further in the coming months, with Singapore, South Korea and the Philippines set to see the sharpest price increases, according to Nomura Holdings Inc.

Food prices in Asia ex-Japan rose 5.9% annually in May, from 2.7% in December, Nomura said in a report Monday. That rate should accelerate in the second half of the year given the roughly six-month lag between the movement of global food costs and their impacts in Asia. Issues like China’s pandemic lockdowns, Thailand’s swine fever outbreak and India’s heat wave add to woes.