Shipping Industry Fears Fuel Shortages as Iran War Squeezes Bunker Fuel Supply
The Iran‑driven closure of the Strait of Hormuz has choked bunker‑fuel supplies, pushing Singapore’s price from roughly $500 to over $800 per metric ton. Shipping firms are trimming vessel speeds and accelerating dual‑fuel ship orders as the war adds an estimated $400 million daily to global shipping costs. The shortage threatens higher freight rates and broader consumer‑price inflation, especially in Asia, which handles more than half of world trade. Meanwhile, the crisis is fast‑tracking interest in greener marine fuels.
Japanese Motor Giant Nidec Discloses Suspected Quality Irregularities
Japanese motor maker Nidec Corp disclosed more than 1,000 suspected quality irregularities involving unauthorized changes to materials, processes and designs across home‑appliance and automotive products. The company has formed an external investigation committee that will deliver findings by the end...
European Investment Firm to Acquire Kakaku.com, Operator of Tabelog
Sweden‑based private equity firm EQT AB announced a $3.74 billion takeover bid for Kakaku.com Inc., the operator of Japan’s Tabelog restaurant review and reservation platform. The offer of ¥3,000 per share exceeds the stock’s closing price of ¥2,925, positioning the deal...
Honda to Exit South Korea Auto Market at Year-End Due to Sluggish Sales
Honda Motor Co announced it will withdraw its passenger‑car operations from South Korea by year‑end, ending a 22‑year presence that began in 2004. Sales have collapsed from a peak of about 12,000 units in 2008 to roughly 2,000 in 2025,...
Burger King Offers Every Fast Food Franchisee in Japan ¥40 Mil to Jump Ship and Join Them
Burger King is accelerating its Japan expansion, growing from 77 to 352 stores and targeting 600 locations by 2028 after Goldman Sachs acquired the chain for roughly $506 million. To speed conversion, BK is offering up to ¥40 million (about $260,000) to...
Japan Records Trade Deficit for 5th Straight Year as Trump's Tariffs Hit Auto Exports
Japan recorded a ¥1.7 trillion ($10.7 billion) trade deficit for the fiscal year ending March, marking the fifth consecutive year of shortfalls. Exports rose 4% while imports grew only 0.5%, but U.S. tariffs slashed auto shipments to the United States by 16%,...
McDonald's Japan Starts to Rehire Ex-Workers for Flexible 'Spot' Work Hours
McDonald’s Japan has launched a "Come Back! Crew" program that lets former employees return for one‑off, flexible shifts without submitting resumes or attending interviews. The initiative targets a pool of roughly three million ex‑staff and is already active in about 1,000...
Hitachi to Sell Home Appliance Business to Electronics Retailer Nojima
Hitachi Ltd announced it will spin off its home‑appliance division and sell an 80.1% stake to electronics retailer Nojima Corp for about 110 billion yen ($693 million). Hitachi Global Life Solutions will retain the remaining 19.9% and keep the Hitachi brand, while...
Soft Drink Vending Machines in Japan Fall Below 2 Million for 1st Time
Japan’s soft‑drink vending machine fleet slipped to 1.95 million units in 2025, marking the first time the count fell below two million in three decades. The decline represents a 20 percent drop from the 2014 peak and the steepest annual reduction since...
AirAsia X to Raise Fares, Cut Capacity over Middle East War
AirAsia X announced a 10 percent cut to its flight schedule and a modest fare increase to offset soaring fuel costs caused by the Iran‑Israel war. Despite the capacity reduction, the carrier will launch its Bahrain hub in June, signaling confidence in...
Airbus Bets on Copter Capability for Tomorrow's War Drones
Airbus Helicopters is leveraging its rotorcraft expertise to develop tactical drones at its Pierrelatte facility, aiming to double production by 2027. The site currently builds the 25‑kg Aliaca and the 120‑kg Capa‑X drones, with 20 Aliaca and 10 Capa‑X slated...
Tesla Sales Rise After Brutal Year of Musk Boycotts but Still Fall Short of Expectations
Tesla reported a 6% rise in first‑quarter vehicle deliveries, reaching 358,023 units – the first quarterly increase in three years. However, the figure fell 6% short of FactSet’s 381,000 forecast, disappointing investors. The dip follows a year of declining sales...
Job Openings Fall to 6.9 Million in February, Another Hint of Sluggish Hiring in America
U.S. job openings fell to 6.9 million in February, down from 7.2 million in January, while quits dropped to the lowest level since August 2020. Gross hires slipped to 4.85 million, the fewest since April 2020, pushing the hiring rate to 3.1 percent, also a pandemic‑era...
Japan's February Jobless Rate Falls to 2.6%; 1st Improvement in 7 Months
Japan's unemployment rate fell to 2.6% in February, marking the first decline in seven months. Employment rose modestly to 68.27 million while the pool of job seekers shrank to 530,000. Layoffs dropped 4.4% and voluntary quits fell 7.3%, indicating a modest...
Parmesan Exports Doing Grate... But Sales Melt in Italy
Parmesan Reggiano exports surpassed the 50% threshold last year, reaching nearly 75,000 tonnes, a 2.7% increase driven by stronger U.S. shipments that grew 2.3% despite a 25% tariff. Domestic sales in Italy fell 10% as the aging population cuts back...
M'bishi Electric, Toshiba, Rohm Sign Accord on Chip Business Merger Talks
Japanese electronics giants Mitsubishi Electric, Toshiba and Rohm have signed a memorandum of understanding to begin talks on merging their power semiconductor businesses. The three firms, which together will hold about 11% of the global market by 2025, aim to...
Another PlayStation Price Hike Means Gaming Console Will Cost 30% More than It Did Last Year
Sony announced a second price increase for its PlayStation 5 within a year, raising the standard model to $649.99 and the digital edition to $599.99, while the new PS5 Pro will cost $899.99. The hikes represent roughly a 30% rise...
Southeast Asia Revisits Nuclear Power Plans for AI Data Centers
Southeast Asian nations are reviving nuclear power plans to meet soaring electricity demand driven by AI‑focused data centers. Five ASEAN members—including Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines—have set targets to commission nuclear capacity by the early 2030s, with small...
U.S. Job Openings Rise to a Better-than-Expected 7 Million Despite Sluggish Labor Market
U.S. job openings rose to 6.95 million in January, surpassing economists' expectations. Layoffs edged lower while quits slipped modestly, indicating tepid worker confidence. Despite the higher posting count, hiring remains weak, with the market described as a hiring recession. The broader...
Japan Digital Payment Firm PayPay Makes U.S. Stock Market Debut
Japanese fintech PayPay Corp debuted on Nasdaq, closing at $18.16 and valuing the company at roughly $12.1 billion, above the $16 offering price. The shares opened at $19, about 19% higher than the price set for the IPO. The offering included...
Japan Warns Companies Considering Ukraine Support on Potential Leaks by Huawei
Japan’s government cautioned domestic firms that aid Ukraine’s reconstruction about the risk of technology and sensitive data leaks via Huawei‑supplied 5G networks. The warning follows a Ukrainian telecom operator’s 5G trials with Huawei and a failed bid by Japan’s Rakuten...
'Stealth Hit' Pokemon Game Sends Nintendo Shares Soaring
Nintendo’s newly released life‑simulation title Pokemon Pokopia sparked a 9% jump in the company’s shares after its March 5 launch on the Switch 2 console. The game earned an 89 Metacritic score, quickly selling out stores worldwide and earning praise for bridging...
Asian Shares Surge, Echoing Rally on Wall Street as Oil Prices Sink Back to About $90
Asian equities rebounded sharply on Tuesday as oil prices retreated from a peak near $120 to around $90 a barrel, easing geopolitical risk concerns. President Donald Trump’s remarks that the Iran‑related conflict was “very complete” further calmed markets. Japan’s revised...
Japan's Jobless Rate Rises to 2.7% as Workers Seek Better Positions
Japan’s unemployment rate ticked up to 2.7% in January, ending a five‑month decline. The labor ministry reported a 0.4% dip in total employment and a 3.2% rise in the unemployed, driven largely by a 7.9% jump in voluntary quits. Job...
Nikkei Index Ends at Record High
The Nikkei Stock Average closed at a record 58,583.12 points, up 2.20% as investors cheered the nomination of two new Bank of Japan policymakers viewed as dovish. The yen briefly slipped past the 156‑yen level before retreating, while the broader...
Toyota Union Lowers Annual Bonus Demand
Toyota Motor Corp's labor union lowered its annual bonus demand to 7.3 months' pay, a 0.3‑month reduction from last year’s record level, as the automaker faces higher U.S. tariffs. The union also called for wage hikes in the spring “shunto”...
Japan's Economy Barely Grows in Oct-Dec Quarter as Exports Slow
Japan’s economy grew a modest 0.2 percent annualised in the October‑December quarter, just enough to avoid a technical recession after a 0.7 percent contraction in the prior quarter. Private consumption rose 0.4 percent, but a 1.1 percent drop in exports dragged overall growth. The...
Sharp's Plan to Sell Japan LCD Plant to Parent Foxconn Falls Through
Sharp announced that its plan to sell the Kameyama No. 2 LCD panel plant in Mie Prefecture to parent company Foxconn has collapsed, prompting a shutdown slated for August. The company will cut 1,170 jobs through early‑retirement packages and record a...
Honda Reports Declining Profit
Honda Motor Co announced a 42% plunge in profit for the nine months through December, falling to 465.4 billion yen from 805.2 billion yen a year earlier. Sales dipped 2.2% to 15.98 trillion yen, yet the company kept its full‑year profit forecast of...
Japan Logs Record Current Account Surplus for 2nd Straight Year in 2025
Japan recorded a historic 31.88 trillion yen current‑account surplus in 2025, the second year of record balances and an 11.1 percent rise from the prior year. The surplus was driven by a 4.7 percent jump in primary income from overseas investments and a...
Japan Monthly Household Spending in 2025 up 0.9%
Japan's average monthly household spending rose 0.9% year‑on‑year in 2025, marking the first increase after three consecutive years of decline. The gain was driven by higher outlays on education, entertainment and automobiles, while food expenses fell 1.2% as consumers curtailed...
Toyota Names New CEO After Reporting Drop in Profits
Toyota announced a 43% drop in quarterly profit and named its CFO, Kenta Kon, as the new chief executive and president effective April. Kon, a veteran with expertise in automated driving, will replace Koji Sato, who will stay on as...
Sony Hikes Forecasts Even as PlayStation Falters
Sony raised its FY2025‑26 profit forecast to 1.13 trillion yen, citing a weaker yen and offsetting a slowdown in PlayStation sales. Operating profit is projected to grow 20.6% with revenues reaching 12.3 trillion yen. Despite a 16% decline in PS5 sales and...