SAPPORO - Concerns over instability in the Middle East show little sign of easing, and the effects are increasingly being felt in everyday life across Japan. Supply chain disruptions linked to petroleum-based materials are now affecting everything from household goods to public infrastructure projects.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said during a press conference on May 25th that petroleum products derived from naphtha should remain available through the end of the year. However, she acknowledged that shortages of materials are occurring at the local level due to insufficient sharing of supply forecasts and orders exceeding actual demand.
The bottlenecks affecting petroleum-derived products are now reaching consumers directly.
Sapporo City has requested that approximately 2,000 supermarkets and convenience stores limit sales of the city's designated paid garbage bags to one set per customer beginning May 24th.
The move was prompted by growing public concern over the supply of naphtha, a key raw material used in manufacturing the bags. According to city officials, orders from retailers have surged to more than 1.5 times normal levels as residents stockpile supplies.
Makoto Nakatsuka, president of Kitene Shokuhinkan, said demand has accelerated dramatically since the beginning of May.
"Sales have been increasing at an abnormal pace. Compared with the same month last year, sales have roughly doubled," Nakatsuka said.
One shopper expressed skepticism about the growing concerns.
"I put out my burnable garbage this morning and used my last bag, so I came to buy more. Maybe people are making too much of a fuss. I'm not sure whether it's really that serious," the shopper said.
Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto stated on May 25th that the city expects to secure sufficient inventories of garbage bags and does not anticipate price increases this year. He urged residents to avoid unnecessary stockpiling.
Nakatsuka also called for restraint.
"Buying only what is needed when it is needed helps maintain both stable prices and stable product supplies," he said.
The impact is also being felt in the Tokachi region.
In Shintoku, a long-loved municipal bathhouse that serves as a gathering place for residents was scheduled to close at the end of November as the town prepares to open a new hot spring and lodging complex in front of JR Shintoku Station. The new facility, a four-story structure with three above-ground floors and one basement level, had been scheduled to open in December.
However, those plans have now been delayed.
Jun Hongo, assistant manager of the Regional Strategy Office in Shintoku, said delivery delays involving insulation materials used for the building's exterior walls have pushed construction back.
"The instability in the Middle East has delayed the delivery of insulation materials for the exterior walls, forcing us to extend construction through December," Hongo said.
The shortage of naphtha-derived materials has made it difficult to obtain the necessary insulation products, delaying completion of the project and pushing the facility's opening back by four months.
Rising material costs are also expected to increase the total project budget beyond the original estimate of 1.85 billion yen.
As a result, operations at the existing municipal bathhouse will continue until March next year.
Hongo expressed frustration over the disconnect between official assurances and conditions on the ground.
"The government says supplies are sufficient, but those materials are not reaching towns like ours. We don't know where the bottleneck is, but it feels like there should be some way to address it," he said.
Despite government efforts to ease supply disruptions, a gap remains between official assessments and the challenges being experienced by local communities and consumers.
Source: HBCニュース 北海道放送
