Japan's MUFG to start buying chips to ease burden of inventory strain - Nikkei

FILE PHOTO: A man walks past in front of a sign board of Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation, the asset management unit of Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (MUFG), in Tokyo, Japan July 31, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc will launch a new company that will temporarily buy up companies' inventories, including semiconductors, to ease the financial strain on them, the Nikkei newspaper said on Tuesday.

The move comes as more companies are being forced to keep larger inventories on hand to deal with ongoing disruptions in the global supply chain. But having to hold excessive inventory carries risk, including potential issues with cash flow.