Japanese tsunami to disrupt trade, fears India Inc

India Inc on Friday expressed fears that the tsunami that shook Japan would disrupt maritime activities in the region and impact prices of commodities like crude oil globally.

"The supply of commodities will be impacted globally as most of the trade takes place through sea," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.

Industry chamber Ficci said, Japan as a nation would overcome the calamity to reassure its place in the comity of most prominent economies of the world.

According to industry experts, the natural calamity will not impact the Indo-Japanese bilateral relations in the long-run, but could temporarily disrupt trade.

"We do not know as to what is the extent of damage. Also, we cannot say as to what will be the impact on goods lying in warehouses as it is early to talk about it," an industry expert said.

The bilateral trade between the two countries stood at over $10 billion in 2009-10. India's major export items to Japan include steel, ores, chemicals and pearls, while import products comprise machinery, vehicles, mechanical appliances and rubber.

Stating that the loss of life and property is hard to replace, Ficci said, "Testing times are bound to re-invigorate the indomitable resilience of Japanese people."

Japan witnessed a massive earthquake of 8.9 on the Richter scale, which triggered a tsunami that swept everything that came in its path, including houses, ships and cars and set buildings on fire, killing at least 60 people.

The toll could go up significantly as reports of damage to buildings in the quake are yet to come.