Fertilisers require natural gas to be produced, and 20 per cent of global gas shipments pass through Strait of Hormuz.
A near-total blockade of a key Gulf waterway is turning into a “food security time bomb”. The Strait of Hormuz, a major global shipping route, is not just vital for oil, but it also carries one-third of the world’s raw fertiliser materials.
Fertilisers require natural gas to be produced, and 20 per cent of global gas shipments pass through this route. With fertiliser shipments delayed, farmers may struggle to grow enough food.
The Gulf region has some of the largest fertiliser factories in the world. If ships can’t transport raw materials, production could stop, and fertiliser prices could go up.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) says fertilisers are the biggest concern currently, while the UN World Food Programme warns that record numbers of people could face severe hunger if the conflict continues.
“The window to avert a massive global hunger crisis is rapidly closing,” said David Miliband, head of the International Rescue Committee, according to The Guardian.
The Gulf is home to some of the world’s largest fertiliser factories. About 16 million tonnes of fertiliser are shipped from the region each year, and Iran is the 4th largest exporter of urea.
The Middle East provides about 45 per cent of the world’s sulphur. Since Iran began threatening ships, few vessels carrying key fertiliser ingredients like ammonia, nitrogen, and sulphur are getting through.
Qatar’s largest urea plant, Qatar Fertiliser Company (QAFCO), has been offline for almost a month after Iranian attacks.
Hundreds of ships carrying fertilisers are waiting in the Persian Gulf because they can’t pass through the Strait of Hormuz, according to International Business Times.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says that traffic through the Strait has dropped by over 90 per cent, and because of this, nitrogen-based fertilisers have become about 30 per cent more expensive.
Malawi, the world’s fourth poorest country by GDP per capita, received 52 per cent of its fertiliser imports from the Gulf in 2024, followed by Sri Lanka with 40 per cent, and Pakistan and Tanzania with 31 per cent each.
Egyptian urea, a standard type of fertiliser, has gone up more than 60 per cent, from about $484 per tonne in late February to $780 per tonne now.
Meanwhile, India imported 25 per cent of its fertiliser and almost 60 per cent of its natural gas from the Gulf in 2024.
“The fertiliser market is in paralysis waiting for the conflict to end,” said Chris Lawson, the vice-president of market intelligence and prices at CRU. He added that supply disruption has been bad and people are still scrambling for product, but it could have been worse.
