Hormuz shipping disruption is affecting harvests, UN agency chief says, as agricultural commodity prices rise 13%

Alvaro Lario, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, said Thursday that disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz were already affecting harvests and threatening to reduce crop yields, with food prices expected to climb. Speaking to Reuters, he said the effects of the Strait’s initial lockdown were now beginning to be felt.

Disrupted fertilizer shipments linked to the Hormuz crisis, together with higher fuel and transportation costs, are raising expenses across the food supply chain, Lario said. He added that El Niño and interruptions to Black Sea wheat supplies were compounding those pressures.

Agricultural commodity prices rose 13% in the third quarter. Lario anticipates further increases in the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2027.

Countries reliant on imported fertilizer, fuel and food face the greatest risks, he said. He pointed to Southeast Asia’s dependence on fuel imports and the Gulf region’s reliance on imported food as particular vulnerabilities.