Takaichi said her government was responding to concerns about the availability of petroleum-based products used in areas other than energy "and especially medical supplies". She acknowledged that crude-oil shortages in other Asian nations had led to worries about the long-term supply of products manufactured elsewhere and shipped to Japan. Many Asian countries, including Japan, rely heavily on the Middle East for the supply of crude oil and petroleum products. Hodanren, a Japanese federation of doctors and dentists, last week urged the government to take steps to ensure stable supplies of medical products such as syringes and catheters. For Japan, concerns over oil and petrochemical supplies have surfaced despite the allocation of crude from the nation’s vast stockpiles.

Source: The Edge Markets March 30, 2026 06:11 UTC