What Is Naphtha? The Oil Product Suddenly At The Centre Of Japan’s Panic Buying Fears

Key points

• What Is Naphtha?
• The Oil Product Suddenly At The Centre Of Japan’s Panic Buying Fears Published By, Last Updated: May 20, 2026, 13:58 IST From monochrome potato chip packets to concerns over garbage bags and medical supplies, Japan’s growing anxiety over naphtha shortages is beginning to spill into everyday life.
• Rapid Read Major snack manufacturer Calbee announced that it would temporarily switch several of its iconic potato chip packets to monochrome packaging.
• (Reuters) As tensions in the Middle East continue to disrupt global energy markets, Japan is facing an unusual problem: growing public anxiety over a petroleum product that many people in the country had barely heard of until recently — naphtha.
• The concern has become serious enough for the Japanese government to issue repeated public reassurances, with Environment Minister Hirotaka Ishihara on Friday urging people not to panic-buy household garbage bags amid fears of shortages linked to the supply...