Japan Has Enough Naphtha until after Turn of Year: Takaichi

Tokyo, April 30 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Thursday that the country will be able to secure enough supply of naphtha-based chemical products “until after” the start of next year. She presented the prospect at a ministerial meeting on the Middle East crisis held at the prime minister’s office. Previously, she had said that Japan would have a supply of products based on naphtha, used in goods such as food trays and paints, for “more than six months.” Since then, the country has worked on securing alternative procurement sources other than the Middle East. At the meeting, Takaichi also instructed her government to urge relevant industries to work on preventing hoarding such as through bulk orders. Imports of naphtha from the United States, Algeria, Peru and other countries are expected to triple in May compared with levels before the escalation of the Middle East tensions, Takaichi said. Combined with the 1.8 months of stockpiled naphtha-based products, such as polyethylene, the country will have enough supply to meet demand until after the start of next year, she said. Elsewhere at the meeting, participants reported efforts to ease distribution bottlenecks for cleaning agents for surgical knives and other products used in the medical field. Difficulties over the procurement of methanol at some waste disposal facilities are expected to be resolved in the near future. Takaichi said, “Even under a conservative scenario, in which only about 50 pct (of crude oil) could be procured through alternative routes in and after June, we’ll still be able to have enough (oil) until early next year.” The government will start releasing additional state oil reserves equivalent to about 20 days of domestic consumption on Saturday, a day later than the initial schedule due to bad weather. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]