Higher Whisky Costs In Japan!
People in Japan were hit with the bad news of recession. Although there were promises of deflation, there is even more bad news for those who love their Japanese whisky(find out why it's the best). There has been an increase in price and this applies to 39 whisky products in 6 brands whose prices will be increased. The price increase will range from 16.7 percent to 25 percent. One of the brands whose price will increase is the ever popular Yamazaki single malt whiskey which will cost 8, 500 Yen. This is a 21 percent increase from its previous price which was 7, 000 Yen. This will be effective as from April 2015.
Other high-quality whiskys that will be affected include Hibiki and Hakushu. This will be the first time in 7 years that these 3 high-quality whiskey brands will increase in price. This does not only apply to local whiskey but also imported whiskey from the U.S and Scotland.
What is the Reason for the Whisky Price Increase?
Well, it is not just one reason but many reasons which have contributed to this. The first reason is an increase in the cost of raw materials such as corn and malt which will affect prices of local whisky. This was stated in a statement given by Suntory Liquors Ltd, a Tokyo-based company.
Another reason is the fall in value of the Yen compared to the U.S dollar. This definitely makes it more costly to import products from the U.S. The current cost of buying a dollar is 117 Yen. At the beginning of 2014, the price of a dollar was 105. This shows just how fast the Yen is losing its value. In fact, it has been predicted by Citibank that by the end of 2015, the price of buying a dollar will increase to 130 Yen.
US Whiskey (Other Whiskey News)
Between January and September 2014, U.S whiskey exports have increased by 6.2 percent. This is due to the high demand of U.S whiskey and it seems that the supply cannot match the demand. In fact, the media has reported throughout the year that there may be tighter supply for the American bourbon and other whiskey brands. The weird thing is that the high demand is not coming from Japan but from other countries worldwide. Statistics show that import of the American bourbon and other non-bourbon whiskey fell by 22.5 percent and 16 percent respectively. Hence, even though other factors remained constant, the price of imported whiskey would still increase since the supply of the product cannot match the high demand worldwide.
The Japanese will have to deal with the situation since the prices of other things too have soared. Hopefully, there will be deflation that was promised by the reelected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
