President Toshi Kada: “The situation is very unstable for about a month, and it is not possible to operate, so we made the decision on the 12th.”
Yamayoshi Confectionery, known for its potato chips “Wasabeef” (Wasabi Beef),” made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend factory operations. Their website describes the 15 steps from potato storage to the completion of potato chips. Which part is being affected by the situation in Iran? “We slice (the potatoes) and fry them, right? At home, you fry them with gas, right? But we use heavy oil as the heat source to warm the vegetable oil in the fryer.” Heavy oil is used in the most important step of frying potatoes.
Around the 10th, they received notification from their supplier that they would no longer be able to supply it. “We supply heavy oil to the factory on a weekly basis, so we decided to suspend operations. Last year, due to a poor potato harvest, production was severely restricted during the year-end and New Year period. In April and May, the production area shifts, and just as we were finally getting out of the period of low potato supply, this problem occurred. In that sense, it’s adding insult to injury.” The government has begun releasing its stockpiled oil, but there is currently no prospect of resuming operations.
■Difficulty in procuring the “magic liquid” “naphtha” There are other things that are becoming difficult to procure. One of them is “naphtha,” which is obtained by distilling crude oil. Petrochemical basic products such as ethylene and propylene are made from naphtha. Various everyday items such as plastic products like food trays, clothing like socks, and shampoo are made from these, and naphtha is also called the “magic liquid.”
Takahiro Kaminaga, head of the Shimojima Public Relations Office: “These become plastic spoons and forks. These are also petroleum-derived products.” Specialty stores that handle packaging materials, stationery, and office supplies were overflowing with naphtha-derived products.
When asked about the impact, he said, “We haven’t seen any direct impact yet, but we are concerned that if this situation continues for a long time, there could be an impact. If that happens, we would like to pass on the cost to customers by offering alternative products such as paper, wood, or bamboo, and respond in a way that minimizes inconvenience to our customers.”
Regarding naphtha, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Akazawa said on the 17th that there are no immediate supply and demand problems at this time. “In addition to utilizing downstream inventory, we will import from countries such as the United States and South America. In addition, we can also refine it from crude oil domestically, so we expect to be able to secure approximately four months’ worth of total domestic demand.”
