“From beer and crisps to noodles, toys and cosmetics, companies, and consumers, across Asia are bracing for a crisis as the Iran war wreaks havoc on supply chains, plastics and oil supplies, upending everyday life and sending prices soaring.”

“Choi Gun-soo, the manager of a 57-year-old South Korean factory that makes plastic films used by farmers to cover crops as well as by television manufacturers, said his suppliers were raising prices of some raw materials as much as 50%, while other suppliers had simply run out of stock.”

“The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow stretch of water off Iran’s southern coast through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes.”

“Asia, which relies more heavily on crude oil, gas, fuel and fertilizer from West Asia than other parts of the world, is the most vulnerable to supply disruption.”

“The most acute shortages right now are in oil derivatives such as naphtha, sourced predominantly from the Gulf and used in refineries across Asia to make the plastics and other petrochemicals that go into almost every manufactured product.”

“Prices for some of the fundamentals of modern life such as plastic and rubber are hitting records.”

“Samyang Foods, the maker of the popular spicy Buldak instant ramen noodles, said a prolonged conflict could lead to a shortage of packaging materials and increase costs.”

“Nongshim said it had two to three months of inventory of packaging material and was preparing for the possibility that the war, which began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, could continue.”

“Yonwoo, a container maker for L'Oreal and K-beauty firms including Amorepacific, told Reuters it was scrambling to secure stocks of plastic resin to manufacture the pots used for skincare and cosmetics.”

“The war has triggered fuel shortages around the globe and businesses from airlines to supermarkets and used car dealers are grappling with challenges including rising costs, weakening demand and disrupted supply chains.”