Topline
Calbee, Japan’s biggest snack maker, on Tuesday warned its products will switch from their famously colorful packaging to black-and-white labels by the end of the month due to an Iran war-spurred shortage of an ink ingredient, the latest disruption to hit the supply chain due to the conflict in the Middle East.
Diet Coke cans are displayed for sale in India, where the conflict involving Iran has led to a shortage of Diet Coke, on April 22, 2026.
NurPhoto via Getty Images
Key Facts
The packaging change is reportedly to a shortage of naptha, an ink ingredient derived from petroleum, of which Japan imports 40% of its consumption from the Middle East via the Strait of Hormuz shipping channel that has been closed since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February.
The naphtha shortage is also being felt by manufacturers of cars, bathrooms and paint, according to the New York Times, which has also reported problems securing the ingredient.
The change from Calbee comes after Yamayoshi Seika, another Japanese snack manufacturer, was forced to pause production of its popular Wasabeef potato chips due to a lack of heavy oil needed for its factory machinery, triggered by the Hormuz shipping disruption.
The closure of the strait has caused other shortages around the world, including in India, where a lack of the aluminum needed to make cans has led to a scarcity of Diet Coke and spurred “Diet Coke parties,” where the drink is treated as limited-availability item and often sold at significant markups.
Also in India, some restaurants have warned they’ll be forced to close due to a shortage of cooking gas, and factories in the country’s plentiful ceramics industry have halted production as natural gas shortages impact kiln operations.
Qatar, which accounts for about one-third of the world’s helium supply, stopped producing helium in March after Iranian strikes hit two liquid natural gas facilities, and the resulting shortage threatens the operation of MRI machines and the manufacturing of artificial intelligence chips, smartphones and electric vehicles.
Also needed for AI chip manufacturing is tungsten, a metal with extreme heat resistance and electrical conductivity that also makes it critical for armor-piercing munitions, which the U.S. and Israel are using quickly in the war, burning through American tungsten stocks.
The war is also heavily impacting the world’s supply of sulfur, much of which comes from Persian Gulf oil refineries, which is used across industries to grow food, make toothpaste, balance drink flavors and treat municipal water.
Key Background
The Strait of Hormuz has been blocked by Iran since attacks on the country began at the end of February. The closure of the passage, through which a significant portion of the world’s oil flows, immediately impacted oil and gas prices but, the longer it goes on, the more second- and third-round impacts on the global economy start to emerge. Economists warn the impact on the U.S. and the global economy are likely to be long-lasting, even after the strait reopens. The surge in gas prices has already caused inflation to jump and President Donald Trump has proposed suspending the federal gas tax to provide some level of relief.
Big Number
$4.50. That’s the national average price of a gallon of gas as of Tuesday, with some states averaging more than $5 per gallon, according to AAA. That’s up from $3.14 one year ago.
What To Watch For
What the U.S. does next. Some have warned Trump is seriously considering a restart of major combat operations in Iran after the president said the current ceasefire is on “massive life support.”