TOKYO-Though the calamity in Japan from the devastating earthquake and tsunami, followed by nuclear plant dangers, threatens to disrupt the supply chains of various products, the actual impact of this disruption remains unclear. Slowdowns and problems are being seen with products such as semi-conductors, fuel, food and automotive parts, but a few commercial real estate experts believe the global logistic markets may not see much of an impact from the disaster.

John Morris, a partner in Cushman & Wakefield’s Global Consulting practice and who sits on the Oversight Committee for the US Transportation Research Board, tells GlobeSt.com he’s not convinced that the global industrial market will face much of an economic impact from the earthquake aftermath. The market was already on its way to resurgence before the disaster early this month, and while he admits the rate of recovery and repair in Japan is unclear, at this time it appears efforts to keep production moving are working.

The three largest areas of distribution disruption that Morris says he can see are in semi-conductors, food and fuel. Japan is the largest exporter of silicon wafers used to make semiconductor chips, and plant slowdowns there could push electronics prices up in the short term. On the flip side, the country is also a big importer of food, he says. “They’re the third largest economy in the world, and they buy like a trillion bushels of corn each year. To the extent that Japan has less income, or imports slow down, there could be some disruption to the bulk shipping of these commodities, but I still see it as only a minimal impact to the global logistics chain,” he says.

The one area that could bring pain to many people on the planet is with fuel costs, already shaky due to strife in the Middle East. Japan is a significant importer of fuel, and there is significant refinery damage there, Morris says. “It could go either way,” he says. “You might see gas prices go up to $5 per gallon and then drop back down to half that soon after, like we saw in 2008. Or you might see the price rise and never come back down.”

There were many worries that the automotive market would take a large hit from the disaster, and at first companies such as Toyota and Nissan shut down across Japan. New product lines, such as Toyota’s new Prius, were to be delayed, according to the company.

However, in the weeks that have followed, the Japanese car companies have recovered faster than expected, and many plants have reopened in the country. Plants slowed but didn’t shut down in the United States, and the parts distribution network wasn’t much affected, Morris says. For the consumer, prices may have gone somewhat higher, but automotive purchases can be held off a lot easier than disposable needs, he says. “The automotive market is oversupplied as it is anyway. We have the ability to make several hundred thousand more vehicles than there is demand,” Morris says.