Ramen a leg: noodle prices heat up as wheat supply goes to pot

Taiwanese woman Mama Lai at her noodle stall in Taipei, where prices are rising in line with costs in many Asian countries. Photograph: Chi Hui Lin/The Guardian

The world’s hundreds of millions of noodle eaters face a rise in the price of their favourite meal as producers look set to heap surging wheat, energy and transport costs on to consumers.

Factors ranging from the war in Ukraine to droughts and floods in the past year have combined to cause a price squeeze that could see the cost of wheat rise 30% this year in China, while also adding to already rising prices in South Korea and Japan.