The latest Gulf War and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz have pushed up prices across a range of commodities, well beyond oil and gas, including fertilisers, sugar, aluminium and helium, Russian-language Ridus reported on March 12.

The price of urea, the world's most widely used nitrogen fertiliser, has risen 35% since the war on Iran began on March 28, with the initial intention of removing the Islamic Republic from power; however, the embattled revolutionary state has turned up the pressure on Gulf counterparts by targeting their key infrastructure and closing the Strait of Hormuz. 

Around a third of global urea supplies transit the Strait of Hormuz, and regional producers have been unable to export sulphur, which is used both in fertiliser production and across a range of industrial processes, the Rabobank reported on March 6.

"A rapid de‑escalation would contain the damage to short‑term volatility. But there is the risk of more lasting tightening: A ~30% rise in ammonia prices or ~20% rise in sulphur prices would push phosphate producers into severe margin pressure, while a persistent 20%-30% premium of global urea over Chinese prices could further delay Chinese exports. At the very least, a war‑risk premium seems inevitable," it noted.

Sugar markets have also been affected indirectly. Brazil, the world's largest sugarcane producer, uses the crop for both sugar and ethanol production.

Rabobank figures

Rising global oil prices have increased the value of ethanol, prompting Brazilian companies to divert more cane toward fuel rather than food, tightening global sugar supply.

Aluminium prices hit their highest level in nearly four years this week. Key producers in Qatar and Bahrain rely on raw materials imported through the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting production capacity across the Gulf.

The helium market has been among the hardest hit. Qatar supplies around a third of global helium output, a gas critical to the semiconductor industry.

Strikes in the industrial city of Ras Laffan have forced key facilities to halt operations, threatening chipmakers' supply chains worldwide.

Monthly exports from the Persian Gulf states plus Iran are currently estimated at close to 2mn tonnes of urea alone, making the region a top-tier source for importers in Asia and Africa.

Oil and gas prices have already spiked sharply, but Bloomberg commodities commentator Javier Blas says that we are not in the 2022 energy crisis redux yet until the price rises spread to other commodities. That is now already starting to happen.