Impact of Strait of Hormuz Situation

This month, Douglas Bohn of Orr & Boss reports on the Asia Pacific market for paint and coatings. Estimated to be worth $90 billion, it is the largest market in the world. One of the key issues impacting the Asia Pacific market is the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Bohn noted that “outside of the Middle East, Asia has been the most impacted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Especially Southeast Asia, South Asia, Japan, and South Korea. The region gets most of its oil from the Middle East. Also, unlike the Americas, most countries in the region are net oil and gas importers and thus are dependent upon energy imports.”

According to reporting from the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IM3), the war in the Middle East has caused crude oil and natural gas prices to surge as ships are held back at the Strait of Hormuz. “But, another big constraint is exports of chemicals and plastics from the region, which will put upward pressure on prices. Large export volumes of chemicals and plastics go through the Strait from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Kuwait with key destinations being China, the rest of Asia and the EU.”

In his April 2026 column, Yogender Singh, our India/Asia Pacific correspondent, addresses this issue. He reported that coating producers in the Asia Pacific region are going through a highly challenging environment characterized by rising raw material costs, supply chain disruptions, and uncertain short and medium-term demand.

He noted, “most of the countries across the region are experiencing severe disruption in raw materials supply after the U.S.-Iran conflict started…Coating producers are also struggling to manage supply chain disruptions, with some comparing the crisis’s impact to be as profound as the COVID-19 pandemic.”

India and the Philippines are two of the most affected countries, as they are highly dependent on crude oil imports from the Middle East region. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are also heavily affected. In 2025, Vietnam imported crude oil worth US$7.74 billion (14.15 million tons) from the Middle East region. According to Reuters, approximately 80% of the crude oil Vietnam imported in 2025 came from Kuwait, whose exports are currently frozen by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.”

The situation at the Strait of Hormuz remains unresolved and will continue to impact our industry for the foreseeable future.

Kerry Pianoforte
Coatings World Editor
[email protected]