Japan faces shortage of bananas as Middle East impact spreads

TOKYO - Japan is slipping toward a banana shortage crisis, the latest disruption linked to the Middle East conflict. 

The reason: The country ships in the tropical fruit while it is still green, then ripens it in rooms filled with ethylene before bunches reach store shelves.

Supplies of the naphtha-derived gas are running low in an economy that imports more than 90 per cent of its crude oil.

Japan bought about 1 million metric tons of bananas last year, making the fruit one of the country’s most important grocery staples.

Naphtha inventories are down by a quarter so far in 2026, as the closing of the Strait of Hormuz continues to choke off a fifth of the world’s petroleum supplies.

The resulting shortage is the worst in five decades, according to Eiji Akashi, secretary general of the Japan Banana Importers Association.

“Prices may rise, but we’re doing everything we can to avoid shortages,” Akashi said. “The entire banana industry is committed to doing everything it can to maintain stable supplies.”

For now, bananas are still reaching stores, and some importers have secured enough ethylene to last about two to three months, Akashi said.

Even so, there is pressure on retailers to pass on higher petrochemical-linked costs such as fuel, packaging and shipping, he added.

The average Japanese household spent about ¥5,200 (S$41) on bananas in 2025.

Tokyo retail prices for the grocery staple were up 4.4 per cent in 2025, and have climbed more than 30 per cent since 2022, according to government data.

Cut bananas need ethylene to ripen, otherwise they never soften or get sweet, and eventually succumb to rot.

Avocados and kiwis are also ripened with ethylene, but require much less of the gas, according to Farmind, which handles about 30 per cent of imported banana processing in Japan. 

Apart from ethylene supplies, the naphtha shortage has been felt in other industries.

Snack company Calbee is switching to black-and-white packaging for potato chips and other products due to dwindling supplies of ink, which uses resins derived from naphtha. 

Japan’s vulnerability stems from its lack of domestic sources of oil or international pipelines to buffer the maritime shipping disruption.

The choking of the Strait of Hormuz has rippled through the island nation’s specialised petrochemical supply chains, turning a distant geopolitical conflict into an immediate crunch for everyday household staples.

The Japanese government has been seeking to reassure manufacturers and consumers, with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi saying that the country has enough naphtha supplies to meet domestic demand until 2027.

The shortage is forcing Japanese fruit-ripening companies to seek alternative sources of ethylene.

Catalytic Generators, a Virginia-based manufacturer of machines that make the gas from corn and other feedstock rather than petrochemical sources, has begun shipping generators to Japanese businesses struggling to secure supplies.

The company is now looking for a distributor in Japan.

Farmind warned that its ethylene inventory is shrinking and that it is seeking new domestic and overseas suppliers.

Some related costs have gone up almost tenfold, a spokesperson for the company said.

“If this continues, bananas may disappear from Japanese dining tables,” the spokesperson said. BLOOMBERG