Iran War: In footwear terms, all plastics affected

Rowan Tilbury, EVA Industries
Durban, KZN, SA – The Middle East conflict has thrown the proverbial “cat amongst the pigeons” for 2026. It some respects it feels like a replay of the Covid-19 shutdown period all over again! EVA, as a compliant local manufacturer, already competes against illegal Imports, Chinese imports (either directly to SA Retailers or into the second economy), and the ever growing direct to consumer online platforms such as Shein, Temu and co.

Our business remains under constant selling price pressure so any changes in cost prices, overheads, labour and so on have a direct impact on our ability to stay selling price competitive. With the onset of the war, we have seen pricing increases on local and international supply varying from 5% to 60%, the reasons largely based on the unhinged oil price and anything linked to oil such as shipping and transport. As a result, we have had to re-cost our products, trying to absorb, wherever possible, some of these increases, but unfortunately have had to pass on some of the increase to our customers, who are also under immense pressure. It’s a challenging environment to be manufacturing in, but as a company we must adapt to the situation. We remain hopeful that the conflict will be resolved over the next several months, but fear that the recovery process will take years. 

Matthew Hansen, Reunion Components
Durban, KZN, SA – While PU (polyurethane) sole moulding for footwear in South Africa is a slightly different process to that of PVC/TPR/TPU sole moulding in that it is a poured liquid process versus an injection moulded process, all these materials are currently negatively affected by the effects of the current war in the Middle East due to supply shortages resulting in increased costs.

Polyurethane for footwear sole manufacture is possibly worse off given there is no local PU raw material manufacturer in South Africa anymore due to the reduced demand and so it all has to be imported. Therefore 100% of the imported PU is directly affected by increased freight costs and increased product pricing from our overseas material suppliers at the moment, added as well to a weaker exchange rate, while the conflict and uncertainty continue.

Also, PU for soles doesn’t work with any recycled materials in any significant cost-effective form and so we don’t really have the option of trying to reduce input costs in that way.
So, our hope is for a quick resolution in the Middle East conflict so that things normalise as quickly as possible, as it is very difficult for us to pass on large increases to our customers and still remain unaffected by a potential drop in sales.

Richard Black, Elco Plastics
Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – While PVC remains less directly exposed to ethylene and naphtha pricing than some other polymers, recent market developments have nonetheless driven significant increases in PVC resin pricing. Import prices, at peak levels, have risen by as much as 80% relative to pre-war benchmarks.

In parallel, key additives, particularly plasticisers, have experienced sharp cost escalation due to upstream pressures and supply constraints. Given the material contribution of these inputs in many formulations, especially flexible PVC, the combined impact on total compound cost is considerable.