China is flexing its dominance over the global supply chain – claiming the world’s largest reserves of 14 essential minerals, including rare earths and graphite – while preparing to ramp up exploration through the end of the decade. The Ministry of Natural Resources disclosed the information at a monthly media briefing on Wednesday, vowing that China would continue accelerating its search for minerals during the 15th five-year plan period spanning 2026 to 2030. The message underscores Beijing’s...
Tensions in the Strait of Hormuz have slowed fertiliser shipments which could put harvests at risk.
A surge in fossil fuel prices since the Iran war is squeezing polyester suppliers and garment makers across India and Bangladesh, threatening to raise costs for fast-fashion retailers like Zara and H&M. Filatex, one of India’s biggest polyester yarn producers, is paying nearly 30 per cent more for the petroleum-derived feedstocks – purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and monoethylene glycol (MEG) – that it needs to make yarn, as Chinese suppliers raise prices and Middle East supply is disrupted,...
Few people have heard of Huangyan, a booming industrial district of Taizhou, a city in eastern China’s Zhejiang province. Yet without it, many cars would likely be heavier, more expensive and less energy efficient, while everyday household goods would probably cost more. The town specialises in plastic components and moulding equipment – unassuming products that rarely make the news, but sit at the heart of modern manufacturing. For years, Huangyan’s producers have dominated this supply chain,...
Rubber glove makers have raised prices and warned of production cuts as the Iran war chokes supplies of key inputs, raising concerns for the healthcare sector. Glove makers have already hiked the average price of synthetic rubber gloves by around 40 per cent to as high as US$29 for a box of 1,000, according to Oong Chun Sung, an equity research analyst at CIMB Securities. Sustained disruption to supply chains from the conflict could lead to glove shortages by late May, analysts at Malaysia’s...
Some exporters at the Canton Fair in Guangzhou report a modest return of orders to China from Southeast Asia, as energy-market volatility linked to the US-Israeli war in Iran prompts some Western buyers to prioritise supply chain stability. The shift is visible in buyer patterns on the exhibition floor, where the number from Europe and the United States appears to have recovered from last year’s levels, according to Chinese exporters, with more inquiries for home appliances, new energy products...
An Australian company will import 250,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser from Indonesia in the coming months, easing fears of a shortage that would crimp food production, Canberra said on Friday. Australia is one of the world’s biggest exporters of crops including wheat, barley and canola but relies on fertiliser imports that are threatened by the war on Iran, which has cut supply from the Middle East, a major urea producer. The price of urea, a source of nitrogen that fuels plant growth, has risen...
China is gaining from America’s trillion-dollar artificial intelligence spending spree despite Washington’s efforts to curb Chinese technology ties, as the US data centre boom ripples through Asian technology supply chains, according to research by Oxford Economics. Roughly US$2 trillion worth of data-centre projects are planned or under way in the US, according to a report by the consultancy, with as much as three-quarters of the cost tied to equipment such as semiconductors and servers. That...
China has implemented a new regulation on supply chain security that hands officials the power to punish any entities deemed to threaten the country’s access to vital resources and the free flow of goods, as Beijing confronts an increasingly turbulent global outlook. The 18-point regulation – which was passed and became effective on March 31, but the full text of which was only published on Tuesday – elevates safeguarding China’s industrial and supply chains to a national security issue. The new...
The Iran war is rattling Asian chipmakers as damage to Qatar’s gas facilities chokes off supplies of helium, an essential ingredient in manufacturing products ranging from smartphones to medical scanners. Analysts warn that the supply disruption is expected to trigger ripple effects across the global economy for some time. Pradeep Philip, head of Deloitte Access Economics, said that while there had been considerable focus on the energy shock arising from the conflict, the crisis over helium...