Middle East war: global economic fallout

Turkish, Japanese tankers pass
A third Turkish-owned ship has crossed the war-torn Strait of Hormuz, Turkey's Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said.

Iran has closed the key global waterway, since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran started on February 28 set off the Middle East conflict and sent global oil and gas prices soaring.

Uraloglu said the "Ocean Thunder", carrying crude oil loaded from Iraq to Malaysia, safely passed through the strait overnight.

Japanese shipping firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said an Indian-flagged tanker owned by its subsidiary had also passed through the Strait of Hormuz and its crew and cargo were safe.

- Oil dips -

Oil prices edged down in subdued Easter holiday trading volumes as investors took encouragement from news of some oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

"There is definitely some sort of volumes being shipped through the strait -- by far not at all normalising the commercial ship traffic -- but it's definitely a step in the right direction," SEB analyst Ole R. Hvalbye told AFP.

Around 1050 GMT, a barrel of the main Brent benchmark was off 0.8 percent at $108.20 with West Texas Intermediate down 1.4 percent at 110.01.
Iran petrochemical site hit
Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel has conducted a "powerful strike" on Iran's largest petrochemical facility in Assaluyeh, after Iranian media reported multiple explosions at the site.

"The Israel Defense Forces have just carried out a powerful strike on Iran's largest petrochemical facility, located in Assaluyeh -- a central target responsible for about 50 percent of the country's petrochemical production," Katz stated.
South Korea, Taiwan, take Saudi option
South Korea will send five Korean-flagged ships to the Saudi Arabian Red Sea port of Yanbu to help establish alternative oil supply routes to avoid the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, a ruling MP said.

The surge in oil prices has raised growth and inflation risks for South Korea, which relies on Middle Eastern crude for around 70 percent of its imports.

Taiwan, with a similar reliance for oil imports, said meanwhile it will also redirect ships to bring crude oil from Saudi Arabian Red Sea ports.
Indonesia aviation fuel hike
Indonesia is raising its aviation fuel surcharge by 28 percentage points and will allow airlines to raise domestic ticket prices, which the government caps, by up to 13 percent.

Economy Minister Airlangga Hartarto told reporters the fuel surcharge would rise from 10 to 38 percent, and the base ticket price between nine and 13 percent.
Sri Lanka hikes cooking gas prices
Sri Lanka has raised prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by nearly a quarter, after eight percent last month, blaming higher global prices on the Iran war.

As well as gas, Sri Lanka also imports all of its oil and buys coal for electricity generation.

Colombo has warned that a prolonged war in the Middle East could seriously undermine efforts to emerge from its economic meltdown of 2022.
Asia shares close higher
Tokyo and Seoul shares closed higher, Tokyo, adding 0.6 percent and 1.4 percent respectively. Among other Asian markets open on Monday, Singapore gained 0.4 percent but Jakarta was down 0.5 percent.

Many markets in Asia and Europe were closed for Easter Monday, which coincided with China's Qingming Festival.

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