Russia Invasion of Ukraine Impact on life is March 15, 21:33

Three weeks after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

As the tense situation continues, its influence is spreading to the lives around us.

There are also concerns about standing eating soba

"It seems that the price of buckwheat flour will rise due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine,"

says Noboru Sakuma, the manager of a standing eating soba shop in Arakawa-ku, Tokyo.

The restaurant is particular about the affordability of a cup of kake soba in the 200 yen range and abundant toppings, but what I am concerned about now is the increase in raw material prices due to the tightening situation in Ukraine and the economic sanctions of Russia by each country. It is a rise.

"Soba" is familiar to Japanese people, but in fact, Russia has the highest production of buckwheat in the world.

Japan's imports last year were also the third highest after China and the United States, with more than 10% of the total being from Russia.

The purchase price of "boiled soba", which is indispensable to the store, just rose by about 5% in January.

At that time, the reason was that logistics costs were rising due to the corona disaster.

This month, a wholesaler told me that I had to raise the price of boiled soba even more after this May.

Manager Sakuma

"According to the vendor, the supply of Russian buckwheat noodles has begun to stop due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and there is a possibility that buckwheat noodles will not come in as expected in the future."

In fact, in response to the soaring prices of many raw materials such as cooking oil and flour used for tempura, all products have just been raised by 10 yen in December last year.

The price of Kake soba, which was 220 yen, has been raised to 230 yen.

Regular customer

"I've been going all the time. I think the price will increase."

Soba is said to sell more than 500 meals a day, even though it is still open for a short time due to the corona.

The store manager is also worried about the sudden increase in costs.

Manager Sakuma

"I can't say a big deal because the situation is dire due to the war, but our management is also a serious life-and-death problem."

Russian products do not enter

What is the raw material from Russia now?

Talking to one of the leading buckwheat trading companies in Tokyo, the distribution network of shelled "Gensoba" and peeled "Peeled buckwheat" used for buckwheat flour has been stagnant in Russia since March. It is said that it is.

According to the company, Russian products are imported from Vladivostok in the Far East by ship, but the containers loaded with buckwheat are still stuck in the port and cannot be shipped to Japan.

It is said that one of the factors is that the arrival of container ships from Europe and the United States is delayed as part of the economic sanctions of Europe and the United States due to the military invasion of Russia.

Cargo that departed in February is barely coming in now, but we expect that the arrival will stop sooner or later.

Furthermore, even if you try to place a new order, it is said that you cannot make a transaction because you cannot remit money due to the influence of Europe and the United States shutting out Russian financial institutions from SWIFT, an international payment network.

The trading company, which depends on Russia for 15% of its imports, is trying to deal with it by cultivating customers in other countries such as Uzbekistan and Mongolia, but the supply and demand is tight as Russian products disappear from the market. We expect that the transaction price will rise accordingly.

President Komaita, a trading company specializing in buckwheat

noodles "Soba is a popular food that can be eaten when you are hungry, so it is not good for these things to rise in price. want"

Russian "not" salmon is also out of stock

The effects of the Russian military invasion have spread to the familiar sushi ingredient "salmon."

The sushi chain headquartered in Chiba City is no longer able to receive raw Norwegian salmon from the 4th of this month.

It is said that the distribution network is disturbed due to the tightening situation in Ukraine, and we are urgently purchasing other salmon such as domestic silver salmon.

Customer

"But this is also delicious."

"Ukraine, which is far away, has an impact on Japan."

According to the Norwegian Fisheries Council, about 80% of the air transportation of raw salmon that Japan imports from Norway uses the shortest route via Russian airspace.

However, in addition to the flight ban on Russian airspace for 36 countries such as Norway announced by the Russian authorities at the end of February, route changes and cancellations by airline companies have made it impossible to transport on the shortest route.

The council has secured flights on the detour route to avoid over Russia and continues to import to Japan, but the supply volume is lower than before and it will take time for the supply to return to its original state. It is said that.

The sushi chain also plans to resume offering Norwegian salmon as early as 19th of this month, but is considering raising the price as transportation costs increase.

What are you importing from Russia?

According to the JETRO-Japan External Trade Organization, Japan's imports from Russia last year were about $ 14 billion.

Energy resources such as "petroleum gas (24.1%), coal (18%), crude oil / crude oil (16.6%)" account for more than half, and "silver" including "palladium" used for controlling automobile exhaust gas and silver teeth.・ "Platinum group (10%)" and "Fish and shellfish (8.9%)" such as snow crab follow.

In addition, there are other domestic imports such as "soba" that have a certain share. For example, it is said that Russian timber accounts for less than 10% of all imported timber for residential use. ..

In addition to such trade between Japan and Russia, there are many products that have an impact on international transactions due to their high global market share, such as Russia being the world's largest exporter of wheat.

Supply insecurity and caution against price increases due to the situation in Ukraine

As the situation in Ukraine continues to be tense, there is widespread belief that the prices of products that are familiar to our daily lives will continue to rise.

For crude oil, for example, the international index WTI futures price temporarily exceeded $ 130 a barrel, the highest price in 13 years and 8 months.

Due to the growing caution over the situation in Ukraine over the shortage of crude oil supply, the high level of around $ 100 has continued recently.

As energy prices rise, fuel costs such as gasoline and kerosene, as well as electricity costs, packaging materials, and transportation costs are rising.

As for wheat, supply instability from Russia and Ukraine spread, and futures prices reached the highest level in about 14 years on the Chicago Board of Trade this month.

The selling price of imported wheat to milling companies, etc., which the government decided on the 9th of this month, will be raised by more than 17% from April, the second highest level ever.

For this reason, it is expected that the selling price of wheat flour and bread and noodles made from wheat flour will be passed on.

At the standing eating soba shop introduced at the beginning, wholesalers have reported that the purchase price of not only soba but also udon will be raised by another 5% from April, and the price of wheat flour will also be raised from May.

The product is cheap, but the store manager says that he is not worried about future trends in raw material prices because the price was raised at the end of last year.

Manager Sakuma

"If you raise the selling price again soon, the customers may be far away. I'm just thinking about how to manage it."

What will happen in the future?

The impact of the tightening situation in Ukraine on everyday life.

Experts point out that it is necessary to take measures with a view to prolongation.

Deputy Director Hirohiro Enomoto

"Russia accounts for only about 3% of the world's GDP on an economic scale, but it has a very large land area, vast land, air and sea, and in terms of the goods and services produced from it. The impact of this is great. It is unlikely that this problem will be resolved immediately, and it will be prolonged for a certain period of time, so it is inevitable that the price will rise overall. "

On top of that, Mr. Enomoto said, ▽ For example, in order to respond to the rise in prices of products using wheat flour as a raw material, he tried to find alternatives such as replacing some of the staple food bread and noodles with rice, and ▽ there is no alternative. Regarding energy, he says that companies and consumers will be required to make efforts to save electricity in the same way as in the event of a large-scale disaster.

The soaring prices of raw materials combined with the disruption of the distribution network due to the corona disaster have led to the rise in prices of many goods since last year.

Furthermore, I am also concerned about the rise in import prices due to the recent depreciation of the yen.

Under these circumstances, the future of Russia's military invasion seems to be approaching households as another "price increase factor".

Economic Department Reporter

Riki Yamane

Joined in 2007

After working at Matsue Bureau, Kobe Bureau, Economic Department, and Tottori Bureau, Economic Department is

currently in charge of the trading company industry.

Reporter of the Ministry of Economic Affairs

Misatoshi Yasui Joined the station in

2014

After working at the Sendai station and Nagasaki station, he was in charge of the distribution industry, etc.

Good morning Japanese reporter

Hiroshi Oguni

Joined in 2016 I am

looking forward to driving with my 1-year-old daughter who is

interested in the war experience and local culture and folklore.