German pasta makers will have to increase prices because of rising costs, especially for hard durum wheat, the German association of pasta manufacturers and durum mills said on Monday. Durum wheat prices have risen by about 30 percent this year, association chairman Werner Hildenbrand said in a statement.
"As this accounts for 60 percent of raw materials costs, the price rise for durum makes a price increase for German pasta necessary," he said. The level of the rises would depend on individual companies. A major reason for higher durum prices was a 25 percent cut in Italy's harvest this year caused by bad weather and a reduction in European Union subsidies for durum cultivation, he said.
There also were major cuts in harvest yields in Spain, the US and Canada, he said. The association also was concerned that US farmers are cutting back durum plantings in favour of corn for biofuel production.