TOKYO, Apr 10 (News On Japan) –
Heavy oil costs have doubled over the previous six months, inserting mounting strain on Japan’s inexperienced tea producers and transport sectors as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi introduced on April tenth that the federal government will launch a further 20 days’ price of nationwide oil reserves in an effort to ease provide bottlenecks.
Uncertainty stays over whether or not tankers can safely move by key maritime routes, elevating issues about steady gas provide, as Takaichi emphasised that whereas Japan has secured adequate general volumes, distribution has not reached all sectors evenly.
Takaichi mentioned: “We have heard concerns regarding the supply of heavy oil needed for green tea production entering its peak season, as well as diesel fuel for public infrastructure such as buses and trucks. We ask that bottlenecks in fuel supply be resolved as quickly as possible.”
At manufacturing websites, the pressure is already evident.
In Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture, the primary harvest of the 12 months’s inexperienced tea crop was underway forward of the full-scale new tea season.
Takahide Otsuka, govt managing director of Otsuka Seicha, described the standard of the early harvest, saying: “It is sweet, rich, highly aromatic, and beautifully colored — a tea that possesses all the essential qualities.”
However, because the one-month delivery season begins, issues are rising over gas prices.
Freshly picked tea leaves should be processed instantly by steaming to stop oxidation, a course of that depends closely on gas oil.
Otsuka defined: “We store 70,000 liters of heavy oil beneath this facility, but even that amount is used up within a week at this factory.”
Heavy oil costs, which stood at 100 yen per liter in autumn 2025, have surged to 200 yen per liter, doubling in simply half a 12 months.
As a outcome, gas bills for the remaining three weeks of the tea season have ballooned from 21 million yen to 42 million yen.
Otsuka mentioned: “War is beyond our control, but there is no doubt we are affected by it. Tea buds continue to grow, so there is no time to wait.”
In addition to provide bottlenecks, crude oil costs stay elevated. Amid ongoing uncertainty surrounding ceasefire negotiations, futures costs quickly climbed to the 102-dollar-per-barrel vary.
Persistently excessive power prices are additionally anticipated to weigh additional on households.
Nozomu Mori, chairman of the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan, warned: “As early as around June, electricity bills could rise due to the situation in the Middle East.”
Prices for liquefied pure gasoline, used as gas for thermal energy technology, have additionally surged, elevating the probability of upper electrical energy payments in the summertime when demand will increase because of air con use.
Even as the federal government proceeds with releasing oil reserves, there’s little indication that elevated power costs will ease, signaling more and more tough situations for each companies and households throughout Japan.
Source: TBS