Noodle-maker Nissin plans big investments, eyes pickup in demand
Nissin Foods Holdings, one of the world's largest instant noodle makers, plans to invest "many hundreds of millions of dollars' in the next several years for expansion in Japan and elsewhere, according to its chief executive officer.
Nissin Foods expects continued demand for cheap precooked noodles even as the industry works to shed its image of being an unhealthy staple, President and CEO Koki Ando said in an interview on the sidelines of the World Instant Noodles Association summit in Manila on Wednesday.
"We are planning to increase our investments,' said Ando, who also heads the association. The Tokyo-based company expects to boost capital expenditure up until 2030, devoting "many hundreds of millions of dollars' in Japan and other countries, Ando added.
Instant noodles, originally from Japan and now a global staple, are undergoing a change as producers create healthier variations of the meal. They aim to revive interest in the product after consumption dropped in 2023 for the first time in four years. That followed a 14% increase between 2019 and 2022.
Global consumption of instant noodles dipped nearly 1% to 120.2 billion servings in 2023, based on the latest industry data. Last year's number "slightly exceeded' 2023, Ando said, adding that the industry group sees at least 120 billion servings this year.
Demand grew during the COVID-19 pandemic with families holed up in homes. But consumption eased in 2023 as economies reopened and noodle prices rose in many countries, he said. China, Indonesia and India are the world's top instant noodle markets.
Nissin Foods reduced salt in its Udon noodle by a third between 2005 to 2024, company data shows. It also launched products fortified with various nutrients, such as protein, vitamins and minerals.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
an hour ago
- Japan Today
Critical minerals give China an edge in trade negotiations
A town is built among the hills near Ganzhou in southern China's Jiangxi province on March 19. By SIMINA MISTREANU China's dominance over critical minerals in global supply chains was a powerful bargaining chip in trade talks between Beijing and Washington that concluded with both sides saying they have a framework to pursue a deal. China has spent decades building the world's main industrial chain for mining and processing such materials, which are used in many industries such as electronics, advanced manufacturing, defense and health care. Mines and factories in and around Ganzhou, a key production hub for rare earths, underpin China's control over the minerals. Many residents grew up collecting rocks containing the valuable minerals from the forested hills surrounding the southern city and today make a living from mining, trading or processing them. Responding to ever higher tariffs and other controls on advanced technology, China told exporters of certain key rare earths and other critical minerals to obtain licenses for every shipment abroad. Approvals can take weeks, leading to supply chain disruptions in the U.S. and other countries. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that China would make it easier for American industry to obtain much-needed needed magnets and rare earth minerals, clearing the way for talks to continue between the world's two biggest economies. In return, Trump said, the U.S. will stop efforts to revoke the visas of Chinese nationals on U.S. college campuses. But details remain scarce. Beijing has not confirmed what the negotiators agreed to, and Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump himself have yet to sign off on it. The Chinese Commerce Ministry said Saturday it had approved a 'certain number' of export licenses for rare earth products, apparently acknowledging Trump's personal request to Xi during a phone call last week. And on Wednesday, the Ganzhou-based rare-earth conglomerate JL MAG Rare-Earth Co. confirmed it had obtained some export licenses for shipments to destinations including the U.S., Europe and Southeast Asia. Experts say, however, Beijing is unlikely to do away with the permit system enabling it to control access to those valuable resources. The only scenario in which China might deregulate its critical minerals export is if the U.S. first fully removes tariffs imposed on Chinese goods as part of the trade war, said Wang Yiwei, a professor of international affairs at Renmin University, echoing the Chinese government's earlier stance. 'Without that,' he said, 'it will be difficult to blame China for continuing to strengthen its export controls.' In 1992, Deng Xiaoping, the leader who launched China's ascent as the world's biggest manufacturing power, famously said 'the Middle East has oil, China has rare earths,' signaling a desire to leverage access to the key minerals. Several generations later, Beijing has made its rich reserves of rare earths, a group of 17 minerals that are abundant in the earth's crust but hard, expensive and environmentally polluting to process, a key element of China's economic security. In 2019, during a visit to a rare earth processing plant in Ganzhou, Xi described rare earths as a 'vital strategic resource.' China today has an essential monopoly over 'heavy rare earths,' used for making powerful, heat-resistance magnets used in industries such as defense and electric vehicles. The country also produces around 80% of the world's tungsten, gallium and antimony, and 60% of the world's germanium -– all minerals used in the making of semiconductors, among other advanced technologies. The risks of dependency on Chinese suppliers first came into focus in 2010, when Beijing suspended rare earths exports to Japan due to a territorial dispute. The ban was lifted after about two months, but as a precaution, Japan invested in rare earths processing plants in other countries and began stockpiling the materials. Beijing's across-the-board requirement for export licenses for some critical minerals has put pressure on world electronics manufacturers and automakers. Some auto parts makers in Europe have shut down production lines due to delays in supply deliveries, according to the European Association of Automotive Suppliers. In the U.S., Tesla CEO Elon Musk said a shortage of rare earths is affecting his company's work on humanoid robots. In the drab industrial hub of Ganzhou, cradled by the scenic Dayu Mountains, the U.S.-China trade war is still a distant stressor. Miners and small mineral traders interviewed by The Associated Press said they are more concerned about depleting the mountains' once-abundant resources. Zhong, a tungsten factory manager in Ganzhou who would only give his last name, worked his way up to manager from a miner, but he's unsure there is a future for him and others in the industry. 'I find growing difficulties to source tungsten these days,' he said, adding that smaller mines and trading companies are slowly disappearing as the resources are dwindling. Tungsten is an ultra-hard metal used in armor-piercing ammunition, nuclear reactors and semiconductors. At least five tungsten mines have closed in the area in recent years, according to state media. Remaining reserves are deeper and harder to extract and process after decades of exploitation, said Li Shangkui, chairman of the Ganzhou-based Jiangxi Yuean Advanced Materials Co., Ltd. Processing factories in Ganzhou now routinely source materials from other provinces or other countries. Zhong's plant imports some raw materials from places like Africa and Cambodia. Major state-owned and private companies in Ganzhou are also ramping up investments abroad. Tungsten producer Ganzhou Haisheng, for instance, announced last year a $25 million investment in a new tungsten plant in Thailand. Whatever the challenges in procuring raw materials, China likely will seek to maintain its dominance in critical minerals, said Fabian Villalobos, an engineer and critical minerals expert at the RAND think tank. Between 2020 and 2023, the U.S. imported at least 70% of the rare earth compounds it used from China, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It has diversified its sources in recent years, but still mainly relies on China. Since beginning his second term in office, Trump has made improving access to critical minerals a matter of national security. But the U.S. has an incredibly long way to go to catch up with China, experts say. The sole operational U.S. rare earths mine, in Mountain Pass, California, is unable to separate heavy rare earths. It sends its ore to China for processing. The U.S. Defense Department has provided funding to the mine's owner, MP Materials, to build new separation facilities. It will take months to build and still only produce a fraction of what is needed. Friction over the issue has opened the way for government-backed financing that was unavailable before, said Mark Smith, who ran the Mountain Pass mine in the early 2010s and now leads NioCorp. It's seeking about $780 million in financing through the U.S. Export-Import Bank to build a processing facility in Nebraska for critical minerals including rare earths. The Defense Department has committed $439 million to building domestic rare earth supply chains, but building a complete mining and processing industrial chain like China's could take decades. 'There are going to be some real issues here unless we can figure out how to get along with China for a period of time while we're developing our own resources and our mainstream processing,' Smith said. The spotlight on critical minerals also provides opportunities for smaller miners to invest in extracting and processing some critical minerals, such as tungsten, considered 'niche' because they are needed in relatively small amounts in key industries, said Milo McBride, an expert on sustainability and geopolitics at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 'For many of these companies, the business strategy hedges on a scenario where the U.S. and China become more confrontational and where trade relations become more uncomfortable,' McBride said. 'And all of a sudden, what was once an uneconomic project somewhere outside of China starts to make more sense.' Associated Press news researcher Shihuan Chen contributed to this story. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Times
2 hours ago
- Japan Times
Jera touts 20-year LNG agreements with U.S. suppliers
Jera, Japan's largest power generation company, has reached agreements to buy as much as 5.5 million tons per year of liquefied natural gas from U.S. suppliers. The 20-year deals include purchases by Jera from NextDecade and Commonweath LNG, CEO Yukio Kani said in an interview. The company has also entered into nonbinding agreements with Sempra Infrastructure and Cheniere Marketing. The agreements bolster Japan's role as the world's second-largest LNG importer, and come as U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing to expand exports of the fuel. Tokyo is locked in trade negotiations with Washington, and has been trying to leverage its large purchases of American energy to reduce tariffs. While Japan is working on increasing renewable energy and restarting nuclear power, "LNG is a key energy source from a security point of view,' Kani said. Japan's government sees the AI boom potentially lifting power demand over the next decade, and has urged the nation's private utilities to secure more LNG supplies. All of the contracts announced by Jera have flexible delivery terms, which means shipments can be sent elsewhere if Japanese demand weakens. Jera has been developing its LNG trading capabilities over the last decade, and often resells its supply to Europe or other Asian buyers.
Japan Times
2 hours ago
- Japan Times
New securities system enables those with dementia to invest with family's help
The Japan Securities Dealers Association has introduced a new framework for "family support securities accounts" that allows individuals experiencing cognitive decline from dementia or other conditions to continue investing with assistance from family members. Under the system, investors can designate trusted family members as their agents while they are still mentally capable. These designated agents can carry out securities transactions on the investors' behalf, in accordance with preestablished instructions, even after the onset of illness. The JSDA aims to promote the system as a proactive option for investors seeking to plan ahead for potential future health challenges. Typically, when investors lose their decision-making capacity due to dementia or other illnesses, their securities accounts are frozen. The new system is a response to growing demand from investors who wish to continue managing their assets despite such conditions. It also reflects the JSDA's broader aim to address key issues, such as inheritance planning and extending the longevity of retirement funds. "We have developed a solid framework for wider adoption," JSDA Chairman Toshio Morita said. "We will work with member securities companies to ensure that the system is well understood and accepted by as many investors as possible." Before a family support securities account can be opened, the original account holder, their designated agent and the hosting securities company must agree on an investment and management policy while the investor is still in good health. This process is followed by the conclusion of a notarized contract between the investor and the agent. Under the system, investors can manage their own investments as usual until they are diagnosed with dementia or other conditions that impair judgment. After the onset of such conditions, designated family members can act as agents, enabling them to sell assets or purchase stocks and investment trusts on behalf of the investors, excluding high-risk financial products. The current available options for managing assets when investors experience cognitive decline include family trusts under the trust law and statutory guardianship under the Civil Code. Family trusts allow for the management of a broad range of assets, but once a trust contract comes into effect, even healthy investors are no longer allowed to manage investments on their own. Statutory guardianship is intended for use after the onset of symptoms and involves complex procedures, such as filing a petition with the court. Yumiko Nagasawa, a senior official at Foster Forum, an organization that provides recommendations on financial products, praised the family support securities account system. "Given the growing need for asset management that assumes longer lifespans, the family support securities account is a more user-oriented system," she said. Imamura Securities, based in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, plans to begin offering family support securities account services under the JSDA's framework as early as July. As many of its customers have family members living nearby, the company believes it will not be difficult for them to meet the service's key requirement of designating a trusted family member as an agent. Hisano Ohara, head of the brokerage house's internal controls department, said, "While robust safeguards must be in place to prevent the misuse of customer accounts, proper oversight will enable the effective use of customer assets." Securities companies in Japan are exploring various measures to address the aging of their customer base. In July last year, SMBC Nikko Securities established a cross-departmental "working group on supporting elderly customers and upgrading related services" to identify challenges faced at the operational level. The company has already introduced a family trust system and a "contingency agent system," which allows customers to appoint relatives in advance to act as agents for transactions. It now plans to expand its service lineup further. Specifically, SMBC Nikko plans to create a dedicated webpage offering comprehensive information about its services for older customers and their families. The company is also considering implementing a training program for sales staff focused on dementia awareness. Natsuki Kato, head of the customer-oriented business planning office, said, "We aim to provide not only investment advice, but also support tailored to our customers' individual circumstances."
