Plastic Costs Rise in Asia Amid Energy Crisis and Gulf Supply Concerns
Food vendors across Asia are grappling with higher costs for plastic bags and containers, driven by an energy crisis triggered by the Middle East war and disruptions to naphtha supplies from the Gulf. A deal between the United States and Iran to halt the conflict has been reached, but markets are expected to take time to recover.
Food vendors across Asia rely on plastics for bags, cups, and containers. The rising costs of these items are linked to an energy crisis triggered by the Middle East war. A key raw material for plastic goods, ethylene, is derived from naphtha, an oil by-product, and around 60 percent of the naphtha imported to Asia comes from the Gulf. At Taipei's Songjiang market, chicken vendor Li Yu-ping, 52, said in early June that the price of plastic bags had jumped nearly 60 percent and the cost of plastic trays had risen by a third. 'We use them everywhere,
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