Plastics shortage from Hormuz disruption lifts food costs across Asia
Why it matters: Packaging prices have jumped 20% to 50%, pushing dairy, seafood, egg carton and rice suppliers toward higher consumer prices.
A plastics shortage tied to the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz is driving up food packaging costs across Asia and setting the stage for higher grocery bills. The disruption has choked supplies of naphtha, an oil-refining byproduct used to make plastics, forcing major importers such as Japan and South Korea to buy more expensive replacement cargoes elsewhere. Companies are already passing on part of the hit. Malaysia’s Farm Fresh raised some dairy prices in June for the first time since 2023, while Vietnam’s Minh Phu Seafood said its plastic packaging costs have climbed about 50% since the war began in late February. In Thailand, rice packers reported packaging costs up as much as 40%.