Phone calls of protests from customers last Monday afternoon caused Maryoto's (not his real name) anxiety to intensify. For more than a week, this importer and distributor of raw ceramic materials in Tangerang, Banten, was out of stock. Supply had faltered because containers of alumina powder from France were stuck at Tanjung Priok port for longer than usual.

"Customers do not want to know the problem. No materials, no production, but there will mo