On the 16th, the Japanese government announced that starting in May, it will release 50 million national reserve medical gloves into the market to address the risk of medical supply shortages caused by ongoing tensions in the Middle East and naphtha supply disruptions.
Naphtha is a chemical raw material refined from crude oil and serves as a fundamental material for producing key medical supplies such as medical gloves, syringes, catheters, and infusion bags. Due to the prolonged conflict in the Middle East, procurement of related raw materials has become more difficult, putting pressure on the supply of medical goods.
The Japanese government estimates monthly domestic demand for medical gloves at about 90 million units. The 50 million gloves to be released this time are intended to correspond to the current market shortfall. The government plans to establish a distribution system within May to help ease supply-demand tensions and stabilize market expectations.