El impacto de los conflictos en Oriente Medio continúa ampliándose en la industria automotriz de Japón

People’s Finance and Information, April 7: Since more than a month after the outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East, the impact on Japan’s automotive industry has been steadily expanding. Not only have imports of crude oil products such as naphtha been obstructed, leading to production pressure and price increases for automotive components, but full vehicle production has also been forced to cut output or shut down. According to statistics from market service firm Kpler, in March, the import volume of petroleum products such as naphtha in Japan fell by about 30% compared with the previous month. As an important chemical raw material, tight naphtha supply has directly led to shortages of manufacturing feedstocks for plastics such as ethylene, and key base materials required for tire production—buta-diene and synthetic rubber—have also surged in price. According to Japanese media reports, Toyota Motor Corporation plans to reduce its car production by 24k units in April for exports to the Middle East. Nissan Motor Company will continue in April the production-cut measures it began in March. Mazda Motor Company has recently confirmed that it will stop producing vehicles for export to the Middle East by the end of May. Subaru Corporation has recently confirmed that, due to disruptions in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the company’s exports to the Middle East have already been halted. (Xinhua News Agency)