In response to a series of attacks on ships by the Houthis around the Red Sea, major trading companies are becoming increasingly concerned about rising shipping costs.
Among these, Sumitomo Corporation says it is changing the route around the Cape of Good Hope when transporting steel materials, chemicals, etc. from Asia to Europe, which could increase costs.
As a countermeasure, we are moving forward with some orders due to the number of days it takes to transport them, and we are also considering switching to air transport for some products.
On the 5th, CFO Reiji Morooka said at an online financial results conference, ``Although our supply chain for Europe is limited, we want to work with our business partners, customers, and suppliers to ensure that there is no impact on our business.''
Toyota Tsusho has also stated that there is a risk that costs may rise due to the need to detour auto parts when transporting them to production bases around Turkey.
Additionally, there is a possibility that ship fares may rise in countries such as Africa, and the company expects this to have an impact into the next financial year.
At an online financial results conference, CFO Hideyuki Iwamoto said, ``Although there has been no impact on our current business results so far, we are concerned about cost increases, and we believe that they will appear over the next three months to next fiscal year.'' "I don't know how much it will cost, but I think it will have an impact."