The Middle East crisis has a negative impact on Japanese companies, and there are concerns about the future of GDP growth

The Cabinet Office announced on the 17th that the real growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP, preliminary figures) for the April-June period was 1.1% per year, excluding the effects of price fluctuations, which was positive for the third consecutive quarter. However, the impact of the Middle East crisis may be significant in the July-September period.

How far will the blow to companies from the Middle East crisis spread? In many industries, current business performance has not yet turned into a significant deterioration. However, the prolonged crisis is slowly eroding management.

Rising prices of raw materials such as aluminum and resin are putting pressure on the automobile industry's profits. Companies are becoming increasingly cautious as the cost burden may become even heavier in the future.

Suzuki announced its financial results for the April-June period of 2026 on the 5th, with operating income pushed down by 21.1 billion yen due to soaring raw material prices due to the worsening situation in the Middle East. The burden is expected to become even heavier from July to September, and the annual impact is estimated to be 110 billion yen. The operating profit forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2027 has been lowered by 30 billion yen (5.3%) from May to 540 billion yen.

Heavy burden on major automakers

Vice President Naoki Ishii said at a financial results conference...