The price of imported wheat in Japan is set to climb by 5.8 percent. But the government says it could have risen much more if the usual calculation method had been used.
The price will increase to a record of 76,750 yen per ton, or about 576 dollars.
The government says the costs for milling companies could have gone up by over 13 percent if the price had been calculated based on the figures over the past year.
Instead, the government used the numbers over the previous six months, which exclude the period of unusual hikes due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, among other factors.
As a result, the increase was limited to only 5.8 percent.
But the government says it needs up to 10 billion yen to cover the gap.
Japan depends on imports for about 90 percent of its domestic wheat consumption. To ensure supply, it makes bulk purchases of imported wheat, then sells it to milling companies.
It then reviews the selling price in April and October.
It kept the price unchanged in October last year, despite soaring purchase prices following the Ukraine invasion.
The latest increase will bring costs for milling companies to its highest level under the current calculation method.
That will likely lead to higher prices of wheat products, such as bread and noodles.