Overview
- Calbee said it will switch roughly 14 snack lines to black-and-white packaging with shipments starting in late May.
- The company cited unstable raw-material supply tied to Middle East tensions after Iran’s Strait of Hormuz blockade curbed naphtha flows.
- Itoham and other suppliers said they are considering similar changes as major ink makers raise prices by about 10% to 20%.
- Japan’s government said there is no immediate shortage and reported a jump in naphtha imports from outside the Middle East.
- Naphtha feeds the solvents and color pigments used in printing, so monochrome packs cut solvent use and ease short-term ink demand.