Got milk, no bottle: US-Iran was causes plastic resin crunch, packaging crisis in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 — The conflict in the Middle East has triggered a severe disruption in the global supply of plastic resin, creating a packaging crisis in Malaysia that is beginning to affect the availability of everyday consumer goods, industry players have warned.

The conflict has throttled the flow of petrochemicals, leading to a critical shortage of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin, a material essential for making plastic bottles and food containers, The Straits Times reported.

This supply chain bottleneck is already being felt on store shelves. In early April, some shoppers reported finding their usual brand of Farm Fresh milk missing, an issue the company has attributed not to a lack of milk, but to a shortage of plastic bottles.

“There is indeed a real impact from this Iran war,” Farm Fresh’s chief operating officer, Azmi Zainal said.

“When a crisis like this happens, prices go up and supply becomes hard to obtain.”

He confirmed the company is facing a squeeze on PET resin and is shifting more of its production into paper cartons and other formats to cope.

Shortage to hit more than just milk

The problem extends far beyond the dairy aisle, with the potential to impact a vast range of products that rely on plastic packaging, from cooking oil and shampoo to cleaning products and packaged beverages.

Mike Tan, chairman of the Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association’s Johor branch, said that access to raw materials is becoming increasingly uncertain.

“Some manufacturers are starting to sell at higher prices and with longer lead times,” he said, noting that resin prices in Asia have already surged by 15 to 40 per cent, increasing the production cost of plastic bottles by up to 30 per cent.

“Without sufficient packaging, manufacturers cannot guarantee the freshness of a product, or distribute them, even if the product itself is available. Packaging becomes a bottleneck in the supply chain,” Tan explained.

The supply chain fragility is a global issue. In Taiwan, prices for some plastic goods have reportedly surged, while in South Korea, residents have begun stockpiling plastic items like garbage bags.

“For decades, plastic has been so affordable and widely available that most people hardly gave it a second thought,” said Tan.

“The Middle East tensions have exposed just how important plastic packaging can be.”