Dr. Elzubi to TRT Turkey: Hormuz is the Lifeline of Fertilizers — and Without Fertilizers, There is No Food

The problem is compounded further by the fact that fertilizers have never commanded the same priority as oil. A ship captain bold enough to transit Hormuz will choose an oil cargo over fertilizers every time, and any potential naval escort would share that preference. Meanwhile, G7 nations maintain no strategic reserves of fertilizers comparable to their oil stockpiles. Even if the Strait were to reopen tomorrow, the crisis would not end overnight — restarting fertilizer production and supply chains takes weeks that Northern Hemisphere farmers simply do not have. Researchers at the Carnegie Endowment go so far as to argue that what we are witnessing today is more severe than the fertilizer shock that followed the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, a shock that unsettled global markets for months on end.