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Naphtha shortages in Japan

nippon.com

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Re: Naphtha shortages in Japan

#61

Post by thrownthatway »

alephnerd wrote: post #39
Tor3 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The situation may stabilize over time as Japan gradually manages to shift sources. However, the situation has been and is serious, the Calbee issue isn't really what matters of course. As someone who's currently in the process of building a new house, I'm in constant touch with my construction company, and they tell me that there are tons of procurement problems because of the naphta shortage. Some companies have sto…

Absolutely, it is serious and will take months to stabilize, but this isn't the first nor the last shock like this that will arise. The 2022 Russia-Ukraine War led to a temporary shock like this as did the Iraqi Civil War and the subsequent surge in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Life is filled with black swans and it truly sucks at the individual level, but at the macro-level this is transitionary. Also, for the Ja…

> is less worrisome than it's downstream impact on cracking.

What does cracking mean in this context?

Re: Naphtha shortages in Japan

#63

Post by ThePowerOfFuet »

BoorishBears wrote: post #52
no-name-here wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the official guidelines https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html > Please don't comment on whether someone read an article. "Did you even read the article? It mentions that" can be shortened to "The article mentions that". May be good to edit your comment to remove the first sentence.

I won't.

Appropriate username is appropriate.

Re: Naphtha shortages in Japan

#64

Post by timschmidt »

thrownthatway wrote: post #61
alephnerd wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely, it is serious and will take months to stabilize, but this isn't the first nor the last shock like this that will arise. The 2022 Russia-Ukraine War led to a temporary shock like this as did the Iraqi Civil War and the subsequent surge in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Life is filled with black swans and it truly sucks at the individual level, but at the macro-level this is transitionary. Also, for the Ja…

> is less worrisome than it's downstream impact on cracking. What does cracking mean in this context?

I'm not op, but he's probably referring to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracking_(chemistry)

Re: Naphtha shortages in Japan

#65

Post by the_gipsy »

Synaesthesia wrote: post #36

Maybe the point of the Iran war was to boost the US economy, relative to East Asia, which is dependent on Middle Eastern oil and gas, while the US is an exporter. I mean look who benefits from this, arms companies and oil/gas companies are having a bonanza.

The point was to stop oil trades of "petro non-dollars", just like Venezuela.

If countries start getting away with selling oil in other currencies, then they wouldn't funnel back all these vasts amounts of dollars into the S&P 500 and the American economy would collapse.

Re: Naphtha shortages in Japan

#67

Post by relistan »

thrownthatway wrote: post #58
tzs wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is telling me that there were production drops in 2025, but it was (1) due to an oversupply caused by Japanese ethylene and benzene exports fell due new plants in China and an increase in cheaper exports from the US to Asian markets, and (2) domestic gasoline consumption dropping. Everything I can find says the shortages now are due to the Iran war.

[flagged]

They did say "everything I can find" which, while not citing references, you would also have found it you tried to Google this at all. Here's one

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/24/business/what-is-naphtha....

here's another one:

https://www.irishtimes.com/world/asia-pacific/2026/05/19/ple...

It's wider than Japan, it's in other countries in Asia. It's directly tied to the war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. But it's pretty clear you have your own axe to grind.

Re: Naphtha shortages in Japan

#68

Post by [deleted] »

Tor3 wrote: post #38
ronnier wrote: post #35

Hn has at least one article in the top 25 related to Japan every day, even about the most obscure topics.

Naphta may sound obscure, but it's the base for a ton of products. I actually had no idea, until the building / construction companies around here started getting into serious trouble (I wrote about that in another comment).

[deleted]

Re: Naphtha shortages in Japan

#69

Post by vkou »

thrownthatway wrote: post #59
emodendroket wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't say the present strategy worked a lot better so maybe the whole world had a point.

I never made that argument. I just tend to thing bullies should be crushed rather than appeased.

So, how are you planning on dealing with Trump and friends? Appeasement clearly isn't working.

Re: Naphtha shortages in Japan

#70

Post by defrost »

thrownthatway wrote: post #59
emodendroket wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't say the present strategy worked a lot better so maybe the whole world had a point.

I never made that argument. I just tend to thing bullies should be crushed rather than appeased.

So, dialysis patients had their supplies on a regular basis, and then the Ayatollah Khamenei was assassinated (hard to get more crushed) during peace negotiations, and now dialysis patients are at risk.

Seems like being a bully achieved very little .. why tear up the original hard won agreement that allowed inspection and kept the uranium enrichment in check in the first place?

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