Japanese Food Makers Eye Black-and-White Packaging as Iran War Naphtha Shortage Bites

Japanese food makers including Calbee are adopting black-and-white packaging after an Iran war-driven naphtha shortage disrupted ink supplies, with the conflict closing the Strait of Hormuz since February 28 and nearly doubling Asian naphtha prices. Japan, sourcing ~40% of naphtha from the Middle East pre-war, has tripled non-Middle East imports in May to cope. Calbee will switch 14 flagship products like potato chips from May 25, with shares dipping over 1% despite a higher Nikkei, signaling WLDOIL-related risks to petrochemicals, consumer goods costs, and margins.