The price of Master Kong instant noodles in China is set to rise, with owner Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp. blaming rising commodity costs for the move.

Hong-Kong listed Tingyi said yesterday (28 October) that it would raise the price on the noodles by 10% to CNY2.2 (US$0.33) a packet from Monday.

Master Kong accounts for 30% of Tingyi’s instant noodle sales and the company said it could no longer absorb the increases in raw material prices.

“The costs of raw materials for processing instant noodles including flour, palm oil, starch and other flavour ingredients – green onion, ginger, garlic and so on – have surged, ranging from 15% to 100% on an accumulative basis since January 2010,” Tingyi said. “Accordingly, the group’s production costs of instant noodles have already reached at a maximum level that the group could bear.”