00:01Nishida Hironori is mixing automotive paint at this repair shop in the western outskirts
00:06of Tokyo.
00:07He keeps busy, but his company, Futu Car, has hit hard times.
00:12War in the distant Middle East has disrupted oil and gas, and with them petroleum-based
00:17products like automotive paint.
00:21Japan's favorite color for cars, pearl white, is extremely hard to get hold of these days.
00:26And, with around a third of his customers driving cars in that shade, some looking for
00:31a paint job are now out of luck.
00:33Profits are shrinking, and no one knows what other colors will run out next.
00:39If we have to turn customers away, sales drop, and we don't even know when it will be back
00:45in stock.
00:45It's possible the company might end up in the red.
00:48A recently announced peace deal between combatants Iran and the U.S. is supposed to reopen the
00:54key choke point where supplies are stuck, the Strait of Hormuz.
00:58But for smaller shops like this one in Tokyo, already squeezed by months of shortages, there's
01:03a chance it could all just be too late.
01:06Analysts say that even when the Strait reopens, it will take time for stocks of products like
01:11automotive paint to get back to normal.
01:16I've been in the automotive industry for over 25 years, and there's never been a time where
01:20we couldn't get paints and thinners like this before.
01:22So I don't really know how we'll find a way through this going forward.
01:26I think it'll be a case of fumbling our way through.
01:29And as even somewhat optimistic analysts also note, there's the question.
01:33Will peace in the Middle East hold?
01:35U.S. President Trump is upbeat, but details of the U.S.-Iran deal are still sparse.
01:40And this first stage could give way to thornier talks.
01:44We've been in this situation before where there's a deal that may be imminent, but then
01:48it falls apart.
01:49So, you know, while we're a little better off with the optimism of a deal happening, we
01:54have not yet seen the effects of the deal itself.
01:58So it's still too early to say the coast is clear.
02:02The fighting may be stopped for now, but at small operations like this Japanese auto shop,
02:07it's anything but business as usual.
02:10Luffy Lee and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
02:14Harvest du Archie Gill www.harvesters.vic.phetta.gov
02:15AUDIENCE MEMBER 2
02:15This our focus is in here today.
02:16You
Comments