Trump War of Whimsy threatens to exacerbate worldwide food insecurity

 

Headline:  New York Times, 3/27/2026

Ana Swanson reports:

One of the biggest economic casualties of the U.S.-led war in Iran has been the global fertilizer supply. 

Shipments of it have piled up on the wrong side of the Strait of Hormuz. In India, Algeria and Slovakia, fertilizer plants have shut down or slowed their output because of rising natural gas prices. China has restricted fertilizer exports. Australian wheat farmers are planting less, and corn and soy farmers in the United States are begging President Trump for relief. 

Much of the concern about economic disruptions stemming from the Iran conflict has centered on the higher price of oil and natural gas. But the cascading effects of the conflict on fertilizer supplies are growing worse by the day, raising prices for farmers globally and threatening to lead to food insecurity in some parts of the world.  [emphasis added] 

Most fertilizer is made using natural gas. So the energy-rich Middle East has become a key global producer of the commodity, second only to Russia.

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