Economy
Iran war makes Japanese crisp packs go colorless
Japan’s top potato chip maker is feeling the impact of supply shortages linked to the Iran war, swapping its signature orange-and-yellow packaging for black-and-white designs.
A household name in Japan, Calbee is known for its savory potato chips with an array of flavors from seaweed salt to soy sauce and butter.
The company said Tuesday it will “revise the packaging specifications” and use just “two colors” in packaging for 14 product lines beginning later this month or in June.
It did not say which two colors, but the statement showed photos of grey packaging.
Calbee, which has the largest share of the domestic snacks market, blamed “supply instability for certain raw materials resulting from the escalating tensions in the Middle East.”
Local media said the snack maker has seen its procurement of printing ink compromised by shortages of naphtha, an oil byproduct used in a wide range of industries.
The goods affected included several potato chip products, as well as a breakfast cereal and Kappa Ebisen, a moreish shrimp snack known for the slogan “can’t stop, can’t stop.”
“We will continue to respond swiftly and flexibly to changes in the business environment, including geopolitical risks, while striving to deliver safe, reliable, and satisfying products,” the company said.
Japanese companies have lately sought to minimize the impact of rising costs and input material shortages even as the government seeks to reassure the public and businesses over supplies.
Printing ink requires naphtha, for which Japan relies on imports from the Middle East for about 40% of its consumption.
Calbee’s Potato Chips are instantly recognizable for their multi-hued designs featuring product images on backgrounds that can be orange and yellow.
News of the 77-year-old company’s move made headlines across Japan. It followed a brief panic in March among fans of a different crisps brand that temporarily stopped producing a popular snack, citing difficulties in procuring the heavy oil needed to run its factory.
Another Japanese food company, Itoham Yonekyu Holdings, also told Agence France Presse (AFP) that going black-and-white or using different kinds of inks for some of its products were among possible options in the future, similarly blaming supply problems due to the Middle East conflict.
Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz, and its de facto closure since the war began in late February has triggered a global energy crisis.
Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi previously said Tokyo was expected to have enough naphtha-derived chemical products to last beyond the end of the year after boosting imports from outside the Middle East.
Last week, Takaichi said that the global oil supply squeeze was inflicting an “enormous impact” on the Asia-Pacific region.
Asked about Calbee’s decision, a government spokesperson said domestic naphtha refining continues with the use of stockpiled crude oil, while imports from outside the Middle East have tripled in May compared with levels before the Iran war broke out.
“We have not received any reports of immediate supply disruption for printing ink or naphtha and recognize that Japan as a whole has secured the quantities required,” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kei Sato said.
“Relevant ministries are working together and making efforts to communicate closely with impacted companies to grasp the situation,” he said, adding that a fact-finding hearing would take place on Tuesday.
Calbee said company representatives visited the Farm Ministry on Tuesday for an informal meeting, but it had no details to share.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Germany must “pull itself together” or risk falling behind in a rapidly changing world, in a speech to trade unionists on Tuesday that was met with jeers, whistles and boos.
After a year in office, Merz’s popularity has sunk and his government has become embroiled in disputes over how far and how fast to reform Europe’s largest economy to revive growth and tackle ballooning healthcare and pension costs.
The sceptical reception among delegates representing workers from across industrial, public and service sectors reflects a wider battle in German politics over the pace of change at a time when established parties are losing votes to the surging far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Merz’s conservatives and their junior ally, the Social Democrats, were meeting later on Tuesday to thrash out differences, with Merz and his Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil batting away suggestions that the coalition could collapse.
After two years of recession, Germany returned to growth at the end of last year, but the fragile recovery risks being snuffed out by an energy shock from the war with Iran and new U.S. tariffs targeting carmakers that are already struggling against competition from China.
“The challenges are also so great because we have created problems for ourselves for far too long, problems that we now have to solve. We have simply failed to modernize our country,” Merz told the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB).
“Germany must therefore pull itself together. Germany must tackle the structural problems that we have been putting off for many years, problems that have consequently grown steadily larger. You know it, we all know it.”
Merz said high costs and bureaucracy were hurting business, putting jobs and the prosperity of future generations at risk.
But his case for reforming health and pensions, the latter a straightforward question of “demographics and mathematics,” was greeted with periodic heckling, whistles and laughter, while some in the audience held thumbs-down signs.
Merz argued that significant changes to the welfare system and labor market rules are needed to revive the country’s stagnant economy.
“These reform projects are not a threat; they are a great opportunity,” he said.
Merz had previously promised an “autumn of reforms” to cut costs in Germany’s social welfare system, but legislation has been slow to materialize.
At the end of April, the coalition struck a deal on health insurance changes, which had previously faced opposition from the labor-aligned SPD.
On Tuesday, Merz promised to continue by passing pension reforms – labelling this “undoubtedly the most difficult challenge” – by late summer.
Germany has the oldest working population in the European Union, with a quarter of the country’s workers aged between 55 and 64, according to figures published in February.
Merz warned that demographic trends will mean that a shrinking share of younger workers will have to support growing numbers of pensioners in the future.
He has called for increased private investment in funding retirement.
The sputtering performance of Europe’s largest economy – which is widely forecast to grow only about 0.5% this year – is “simply too little to maintain our prosperity”, Merz said.
Without growth, “there will also be no effective welfare state, good healthcare, or adequate pensions,” he warned.
DGB chair Yasmin Fahimi, who was reelected to her post on Monday, countered that any reforms must include a “fair distribution of the burden” and rejected government proposals to loosen working time regulations.
Türkiye unveiled on Tuesday a new financial package worth $5.3 billion (TL 240.62 billion) to support transformation and employment in the agriculture sector in the country, with the first tranche of $750 million to be available this year, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said.
“We will provide businesses with financing opportunities of up to $10 million, with a repayment period of up to seven years and a 24-month grace period, depending on the size of the project,” Erdoğan told the program held in the capital Ankara to mark World Farmers Day.
The project, which will be supported by the World Bank and which is being launched this year, will span 10 years, according to the president.
“With this project, we will facilitate access to finance for entrepreneurs who want to invest in the agriculture and food sector,” he noted.
This funding will be provided for investments in facility construction and for machinery and equipment in the agricultural and food sectors, he added.
“We will provide repayable financing and credit guarantee system support up to 80% of the investment amount,” he added.
Addressing the program, Erdoğan said that the mechanism, which will also involve a credit guarantee fund, will provide approximately $500 million for farmers who are facing difficulties in accessing the credit funds.
“(The credit support) will create new channels for 400,000 of our farmers to market their products, and will create new employment opportunities for 250,000 of our citizens,” he said.
At the same time, Erdoğan said that the country is facing no issues with agricultural production and food supply security.
He added that the fertilizer stocks “are at sufficient levels,” as he recalled that the government has implemented a series of additional measures, ranging from reducing customs duties to zero to halting exports.
U.S. consumer prices accelerated further in April as Washington’s war with Tehran continued to push energy prices higher, adding to pressures for many households.
The consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.8% from April 2025, according to data released by the Labor Department on Tuesday.
On a month-to-month basis, April prices rose 0.6% from March as gasoline prices rose 5.4% during the month. However, the month-over-month gain was down from 0.9% increase from February to March.
Labor Department figures showed that gasoline prices are up more than 28% compared with a year ago. However, the AAA motor club listed the average regular gallon of gasoline at above $4.50 on Tuesday, about 44% more than it cost last year at this time.
Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called consumer core prices rose 0.4% last month from March and 2.8% from April 2025, relatively modest readings that suggest the energy price burst has yet to spill over more broadly into other prices.
Grocery prices rose 0.7% from March to April as meat prices rose. Those prices had retreated slightly the month before.
‘Key drag’ on economy
“Inflation is the key drag on the U.S. economy now,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote.
“There is a real financial squeeze underway. For the first time in three years, inflation is eating up all wage gains. This is a setback for middle-class and lower-income households and they know it. They are having to cut back on spending and stretch every dollar.”
In April, average hourly wages fell 0.3% from a year earlier after accounting for inflation – the first year-over-year drop in three years.
Inflation had been dropping more or less steadily since peaking with a 9.1% year-over-year spike in prices in June 2022, a surge caused by supply chain bottlenecks at the end of COVID-19 lockdowns and an energy price shock following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But inflation remained above the 2% target set by the Federal Reserve (Fed).
Then, the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, and Tehran responded by shutting off access to the Gulf of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes. Energy prices rocketed in response.
The Fed, which had been expected to cut its benchmark interest rates in 2026, has turned cautious as it waits to see how long the conflict lasts and whether higher energy prices spill over into other products and cause a broader inflationary outbreak.
President Donald Trump has lambasted the Fed and its outgoing chair, Jerome Powell, for refusing to slash rates to boost the economy.
Kevin Warsh, the president’s hand-picked choice to succeed Powell, is expected to be confirmed by the Senate this week, but it’s unclear whether Warsh would pursue lower rates given the uncertainties arising from the war – or whether he could persuade his colleagues on the Fed’s rate-setting committee to go along if he tried.
Some companies are also starting to feel the pain.
For example, Whirlpool, which makes KitchenAid and Maytag appliances, reported last week that revenue dropped nearly 10% in its most recent quarter and said that the war has caused a “recession-level industry decline″ that has undermined consumer confidence.
Grace King, 31 of Ames, Iowa, said that higher prices in the food aisle and at the pump are making her cut back on spending for things like clothing. The administrative assistant used to spend $200 per month on clothing, mostly on Amazon, but not anymore.
“There’s pressure basically everywhere from the groceries that I buy to the gas to fill up the tank,” she said.”
“I’ve severely cut back on my frill spending.”
For example, King noted that while it’s only a five-minute drive to work, she makes the trip twice a day. And if she needs to do any big shopping, that’s a 40-minute drive to malls in Des Moines, Iowa.
Türkiye is becoming a maritime power while the world focuses on the naval arms race between China and the U.S., Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken said Tuesday.
“While all eyes are focused on the naval arms race between China and the U.S., Türkiye is quietly emerging as a maritime power,” Francken wrote on the social media platform X.
He is part of a delegation accompanying Belgium’s Queen Mathilde, who arrived in Istanbul on Sunday, leading a high-level economic mission aimed at strengthening trade and investment ties between Brussels and Ankara.
Francken’s remarks came after the delegation visited Sedef Shipyard in Istanbul.
He pointed to how Türkiye is not only ordering but also domestically building submarines, corvettes, frigates, destroyers and aircraft carriers.
“They are doing so quickly, with high quality and competitive prices. Turkish naval vessels are gradually gaining ground on the global market,” he added.
The delegation on Sunday visited the Turkish drone powerhouse Baykar, which Francken described as “unique” within NATO because “it has made permanent innovation its mantra.”
“This company pioneered AI-integrated armed drones. They are getting higher and flying higher and further,” he said.
Before the visit, Francken praised Türkiye’s defense industry as a “role model.” He said Belgium sees major potential for cooperation with Türkiye in the defense sector.
On Tuesday, Francken noted that the Turkish economy has grown rapidly over the past 20 years while also managing to emerge from the inflation storm it experienced in recent years. He said one lesson he took away was that “hard times require hard measures.”
“Istanbul is not only a gateway to Central Asia, but also to the Arab world – including in the media sphere. All major Arab media outlets are represented here,” Francken added.
Online marketplace eBay announced Tuesday that it had rejected the recent $56 billion takeover offer from video game retailer GameStop, calling the unsolicited proposal “neither credible nor attractive.”
“eBay’s board is confident that the company, under its current management team, is well positioned to continue to drive sustainable growth, execute with discipline, and deliver long-term value for our shareholders,” board chairperson Paul Pressler said in a statement.
GameStop, well known among American gamers but a much smaller company than eBay, made its stock-and-cash deal in early May.
Analysts quickly expressed doubts that it would be able to finance the deal, though its CEO, Ryan Cohen, said in a television interview that “we have the ability to issue stock to get the deal done.”
GameStop has roughly $9.4 billion in available assets and said it had secured a commitment letter from the Canadian investment firm TD Securities for $20 billion in financing.
Its offer valued eBay at $125 per share, but in a sign that investors were sceptical of its success, eBay shares closed at just $108.13 on the Nasdaq composite on Monday.
In its statement, Pressler said, “We have sharpened our strategic focus, strengthened execution, enhanced our marketplace and seller experience, and consistently returned capital to shareholders.”
Turkic nations will focus on new steps to advance their economic ties through artificial intelligence and digital development at the leaders’ summit in Kazakhstan this week.
The informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States’ (OTS) Council of Heads of State will be held on Friday in the southern Kazakh city of Turkistan under the theme “Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development.”
The meeting will focus on AI and digital innovation while promoting sustainable economic growth through the transformative potential of new technologies.
The summit will be a platform to advance dialogue to improve public services and enhance regional connectivity, such as joint activities that Turkic nations can take in developing Turkish AI.
The event is also expected to contribute to strengthening economic and commercial relations among member states.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is also expected to attend the summit, an Anadolu Agency (AA) report on Tuesday said.
Türkiye’s annual OTS trade nears $17 billion
The evaluations to be made at the OTS summit are expected to contribute to economic and trade relations. In recent years, Türkiye has maintained a position of a net exporter to the member countries of the organization.
Turkish exports to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan were recorded at $6.2 billion (TL 281.41 billion) in 2021, with imports totaling $4.2 billion. In 2022, exports amounted to $6.9 billion, while imports were $6.2 billion.
A year later, Türkiye’s exports climbed to $8.8 billion, with imports reaching $6.4 billion. The said exports reached $10 billion in 2024, while imports from these countries were recorded at $6.5 billion.
Last year, Turkish exports totaled $9.6 billion, and the import amount was calculated at $7.3 billion. Thus, the annual trade volume between Türkiye and the OTS member countries approached $17 billion.
Most exports to Kazakhstan
Looking at exports from last year by country, Kazakhstan ranked first with $3.2 billion.
Azerbaijan followed with $3 billion, Uzbekistan with $2.1 billion and Kyrgyzstan with $1.3 billion.
In the first three months of this year, Türkiye’s exports to member countries also approached $2.1 billion. Kazakhstan led the way with approximately $700 million.
Azerbaijan followed with $663 million, Uzbekistan with $419.5 million and Kyrgyzstan with $274.7 million.
Within the OTS, in addition to member countries, Turkmenistan, Hungary, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) are present as observer countries.
New opportunities on the table
Meanwhile, besides the OTS summit in Turkistan, meetings and conferences are planned in Astana to elevate Türkiye-Kazakhstan relations to a higher level.
Erdoğan is expected to chair the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council Meeting with his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on May 14.
In addition, the Türkiye-Kazakhstan Business Forum is also expected to take place, with the attendance of Trade Minister Ömer Bolat alongside business leaders from the two countries, to explore cooperation areas.
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