TOKYO: Japan’s small ‌and medium-sized enterprises cited surging procurement costs as the biggest strain from the Middle East conflict, ​a joint survey by the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry showed on Friday.

The survey of 2,497 companies across all 47 prefectures, conducted from May 7-29, found that rising ‌fuel and petrochemical ‌prices affected 70% ​to ‌80% ⁠of firms, ​while ⁠supply disruptions for petrochemicals hit more than half.

Here are more details from the survey:
• Rising procurement costs topped the list of business impacts at 74.8%, followed by higher fuel prices at 62.9% ⁠and increased logistics costs at 38.7%.
• ‌About 46.6% ‌of firms said they had ​fully or partially passed ‌on higher costs to customers; ‌48.4% said they had largely or entirely failed to do so.
• Manufacturing, construction, and hospitality and food-service sectors reported the highest rates of ‌cost burden from procurement price increases.
• Construction firms were disproportionately affected ⁠by supply ⁠bottlenecks and order losses tied to delivery delays compared with other sectors.
• The most common corporate response was price pass-through, cited by 39.7% of firms, followed by stockpiling consumer goods at 38.9% and building fuel and raw-material inventories at 16.0%.
• Firms urged the government to secure stable energy supplies and provide ​relief on electricity, ​gas, and fuel costs, as well as cash-flow support. 

Reuters