Delays, rising costs hit Asia’s trade as Gulf crisis spills beyond oil

Malaysia’s busiest container port has started refusing Middle East-bound cargo unless shipping lines can guarantee prompt pickup, in one of the clearest signs yet that the Gulf crisis is working its way past oil and into the everyday trade that moves across Asia.Longer transit times, missed sailings and sharply higher insurance premiums are now rippling across the region’s logistics chain, with wine, spirits and other time-sensitive goods acting as an early indicator of disruption that analysts say will eventually push up prices on shop shelves and restaurant tables.The Strait of Hormuz has been largely shut since late February, when the US and Israeli war on Iran triggered a blockade that brought shipping through the waterway to a near standstill.