Tag - supply-chains

 
Menu
Search
 
July 03, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

SUPPLY CHAINS

A truck carrying rare earths travels toward Lynas Corp's Mount Weld processing plant, northeast of Perth, in Western Australia.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 27, 2026
A warning to critical mineral buyers: avoid butter mountains and aluminum floods
In the 1980s and 1990s, subsidies, cheap energy and price guarantees fueled overproduction of various products which flooded markets, tanked prices and spread pain globally.
Fumiya Kokubu, the former head of a major trading house, said Monday it would be "impossible” to procure alternatives for the 15 million kiloliters of naphtha a year that the country sourced from the Middle East before the war in Iran.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 26, 2026
Former Japan trading house head warns of naphtha supply crunch
Former Marubeni chair says Japan is likely to face a shortage of naphtha-derived chemical products as early as the end of June.
A Philippine Navy band plays music to welcome the Royal New Zealand Navy frigate HMNZS Te Kaha upon arrival at the South Harbor, for a four-day goodwill visit in metro Manila in April 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 23, 2026
New Zealand to invest in drones and fleet to shield maritime routes
Defense Minister Chris Penk said the government will invest in two types of drones: one for the southwest Pacific and another that can operate from ships in the Southern Ocean.
Since ‌December, Chinese ‌exports of rare earth minerals like dysprosium, terbium and yttrium oxide, as ​well as specialty metal gallium, to Japan have stopped except for a few tiny shipments of yttrium, Chinese customs data shows.
JAPAN
May 23, 2026
China squeezes Japan over rare earths in repeat of 2010 showdown
The halt to exports ⁠began shortly after a diplomatic row over Taiwan erupted in November.
Ethylene is made from naphtha, which is derived from crude oil, and is used as a material for plastics and fibers.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2026
Ethylene plant operating rate hits record low in Japan
Ethylene, made from naphtha derived from crude oil, is used as a material for plastics and fibers.
Naphtha shortages and a shrinking labor force mean those buying a new air conditioning unit may pay more than last year and then be forced to wait up to a month to have it installed.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
May 20, 2026
Installation delays and price hikes hit air conditioners just before summer
Fears of naphtha shortages and a smaller labor force mean those buying a new air conditioner may pay more than last year and then be forced to wait up to a month for installation.
A steel factory in Duisburg, Germany. The European Union is attempting to reduce reliance on China by requiring companies to buy critical components from at least three different suppliers.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 18, 2026
EU to force companies to buy components from non-Chinese suppliers, FT reports
Under the new legislation, companies would be limited ⁠to buying about 30% to 40% of components from a single supplier.
The Pentagon building in Arlington, Virginia.
WORLD
May 15, 2026
Pentagon’s ‘deal team six’ aims to challenge China’s grip on rare earth power
A new Pentagon unit is racing to break China’s grip on rare earths with billions in financing and creative dealmaking, marking a far more aggressive U.S. industrial policy shift.
Many municipalities across Japan say buzz online and anxiety over the situation in the Middle East has led to people panic buying garbage bags.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
May 13, 2026
Designated trash bags run low in Japan as fears grow over supply shortages
Reports of a naphtha shortage have driven some to hoard city-designated trash bags needed in some areas to dispose of waste.
Calbee will start selling potato chips in black and white packages due to a naphtha-derived ink shortage amid the war in Iran.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2026
Calbee’s switch to black-and-white packaging brings home impact of Iran war
The government maintains that there is enough naphtha for local industries, though bottlenecks have been identified.
“Areas connected to southern China such as Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam will be potential regions that the company will look into,” said Sojitz Chief Financial Officer Makoto Shibuya.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2026
Japan’s Sojitz eyes Southeast Asia for new rare earths supply
The company will also consider India and other countries if suitable rare earths investment opportunities exist there.
The semiconductor industry and related electronics sector together account for around 17% of Taiwan’s economy.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
May 7, 2026
Hormuz crisis shows gaps in Taiwan’s high-tech ‘silicon shield’
The factors that make Taiwan an economic powerhouse — its successful technology industry and artificial intelligence-driven chipmaking — are also the ones making it vulnerable.
Since Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, concerns have emerged over what a shortage of oil and naphtha — a raw material for plastic products including food-packaging containers — could mean to not only industries but also supply chains and individual consumers.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 5, 2026
Amid shortage concerns, Japan works to secure supplies of raw materials
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sparked worries about what an oil and naphtha shortage could mean for not only industries but also supply chains and consumers.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a government meeting on the Middle East on Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 1, 2026
Japan secures enough petroleum-derived naphtha to last into 2027
Questions over a possible shortage of the material — used for products ranging from medical supplies to cheap consumer goods — have been rising due to the Iran war.
Toyota's parts suppliers are grappling with rising raw material costs, shortages of basic supplies and ongoing logistical turmoil.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 29, 2026
Toyota suppliers start to feel strain of supply chain disruptions due to Iran conflict
Toyota’s parts suppliers are grappling with rising raw material costs, shortages of basic supplies and ongoing logistical turmoil.
A tanker carrying U.S. crude oil sails in Tokyo Bay on Sunday.
JAPAN / Explainer
Apr 29, 2026
How the Iran crisis affects Japan
With the Strait of Hormuz still closed, nearly a fifth of the world’s oil exports are being kept from reaching their destinations.
A Japanese machine tool industry group is concerned about a potential shortage of thinners and cutting oils amid prolonged conflict in the Middle East.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 28, 2026
Japan industry group warns of war’s impact on supply of thinners
There are no shortages now, but the prolonged conflict in the Middle East could affect supplies in the future, the head of an industry group has said.
A container ship is seen at the port in Lianyungang, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 27, 2026
Under cover of trade truce with Trump, China expands economic pressure toolkit
Beijing is punishing those who shift supply chains from China, tightening rare ​earth licensing, banning foreign AI and cybersecurity tech and weighing curbs on its solar gear.
European Union Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio shake hands after signing a memorandum of understanding for a strategic partnership on critical minerals at the State Department in Washington on Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2026
U.S. and EU deepen cooperation on critical minerals with eye to broader agreement
The two signed a memorandum of understanding for a partnership on producing and securing critical minerals, with a specific ‌action plan ‌for trade announced separately.
Restrictions on fossil fuels, not climate change, pose the greater threat to the global food supply by raising costs and limiting fertilizer access, with the potential to increase hunger. 
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 23, 2026
War in the Gulf reveals the real risk to food security
Without fossil fuels, half the global population would suffer a severe lack of food.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
Why is the yen so weak and what can Japan do about it?
Japan spent ¥11.7 trillion ($73 billion) between late April and late May to prop up the weak yen.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Digital marketer Netyear zeros in on generative AI
Digital marketer Netyear zeros in on generative AI

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER