Escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are raising fresh concerns for global agriculture, as a new U.S. naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz threatens to disrupt fertilizer supplies and drive already elevated input costs even higher.
While energy markets have drawn the most attention, agricultural economists and analysts warn the implications for fertilizer could be just as significant.
News Nation’s Brooke Shafer reported that “it’s not just 20 percent of the world’s oil that travels through the Strait of Hormuz — it’s fertilizer, too. About one-third of the world’s fertilizer travels through the strait, according to the United Nations.” Shafer added that the disruption affects key nutrients used across global crop production: “That includes nitrogen fertilizers, which require liquified natural gas, and phosphate fertilizers, made from urea, ammonia and sulfur. Fertilizers are paramount to producing wheat, fruit, corn, rice and more.”
Perhaps we will be seeing more:
