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Conflict involving Iran and other parties across the Middle East continues to create uncertainty for global commodity trade and logistics, with freight markets closely monitoring developments affecting key transport routes.
Shipping through strategically important waterways in the region remains subject to heightened risk, prompting some operators to reroute vessels, pause transits or factor in additional security and insurance costs. These adjustments are contributing to longer transit times, tighter vessel availability and upward price pressure for commodities moving into and out of the region.
Conditions remain fluid, and logistics disruption – rather than outright supply loss – is currently the primary channel through which the conflict is affecting physical markets. The latest coverage from Fastmarkets of the war, and its implications for trade and logistics, is set out in the stories listed below.
Until now, aluminium has been hard to move, not hard to find. Global aluminium supply had remained technically intact, even as output was curtailed in parts of the Gulf, inventory buffers were drawn down or repositioned, and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was severely disrupted.
Global aluminium producers face heightened uncertainty over power supplies, with oil and gas prices elevated by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows, sources told Fastmarkets.
Vegoils futures traded largely higher on Monday March 30. Crude palm oil (CPO) surged, supported by a combination of bullish external cues and solid fundamentals. Meanwhile, soyoil futures climbed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange mainly supported by stronger energy prices and by a bullish sentiment on new US renewable fuels targets announced on Friday March 27.
The Middle East energy shock is driving up European natural gas prices, inflating paper packaging costs. Protect your F&B margins today with our data-driven procurement intelligence.
The Middle East conflict has triggered a massive energy price shock, severely disrupting the European paper market by driving up production and transportation costs. Read more.
Crude palm oil (CPO) and soyoil futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) extended gains on Thursday March 12, as it continued to track strength in related vegoils and energy markets. The highs in CPO reached earlier in the day eased off by the day’s close.
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