First, the US-Israeli war on Iran sparked a Diet Coke shortage in India by squeezing supplies of aluminium cans, triggering an unusual wave of “Diet Coke parties” in one of the world’s largest consumer markets. But now, the fizzy drink is getting pricier. Across India, Coca-Cola has hiked prices of Diet Coke – sold predominantly in aluminium cans in the country – by more than 10 per cent due to the ongoing Middle East conflict, which has choked its supply chain. As a result, the company had...
101 East investigates the supply chain behind India’s booming salt industry.
China will adjust its export controls on helium in response to changes in domestic and global supply conditions, after temporarily suspending overseas shipments of the gas last week amid a tightening global supply situation. The Ministry of Commerce said the temporary export ban was in line with the country’s foreign trade laws and World Trade Organization rules. “China is a major importer of helium,” ministry spokesman He Yadong said, adding that the temporary ban was to “safeguard domestic...
From rare earth elements to commercial drones, Washington has become all too familiar with the strongest weapons in Beijing’s manufacturing arsenal – the materials and products where China holds a strategic advantage in production, extraction or any other link in the supply chain. After those near-monopolies provided Chinese policymakers considerable leverage in last year’s trade dispute, US think tanks are asking whether pharmaceuticals represent the next critical dependency. Their concern is...
US lawmakers are pushing for more scrutiny of Chinese investment in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, as Washington’s strategic competition with Beijing expands beyond semiconductors and artificial intelligence into the healthcare sector. Bipartisan US senators on Wednesday unveiled legislation aimed at increasing transparency around foreign influence in the pharmaceutical industry, amid growing concerns over US dependence on China for critical drug ingredients and medical supply chains. “There...
China's self-driving car firms have been given a headstart by the country's EV supply chain as they expand globally.
China’s dominance in rare earth mining, refining and exports has long been viewed as a strategic advantage. But a new study by Chinese researchers argues that the country’s rare earth industry has its own critical weakness. “China is not in a leading position in mastering key core technologies in certain fields,” the researchers wrote in the paper. Published in the latest issue of the Bulletin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the study shifts the focus away from resource reserves and...
Asean countries are looking to deepen supply chain integration with the Greater Bay Area to tap expertise in the region’s advanced technologies and manufacturing, with Hong Kong also poised to benefit, industry leaders and officials have said. Panellists at the South China Morning Post’s GBA-Asean Summit 2026 highlighted artificial intelligence (AI) and green technology as key areas for cooperation, while stressing the importance of open data flows and shared digital standards. Tuesday’s summit...
The AI-driven price surge in the semiconductor supply chain is spreading beyond graphics processing units (GPUs) and memory chips to upstream materials and manufacturing inputs, creating new bottlenecks that could slow the buildout of global artificial intelligence infrastructure. Suppliers of once less-visible parts are gaining leverage as customers compete for limited capacity. These range from power chips and capacitors that regulate electricity inside AI data centres, to copper-clad...