The US and Israel struck Iran’s major petrochemical complex on April 4, damaging multiple facilities in the southern Mahshahr region and raising concerns over global supply disruptions in plastics and fertilisers.

Various news agencies reported on April 4 that at least five plants were hit in the Mahshahr area, including the Amir Kabir facility, which produces linear low-density polyethylene, and the Tondguyan plant, a key producer of polyethylene terephthalate. The strikes also targeted Fajr Petrochemical Company 1 and nearby infrastructure, focusing on processing and distribution nodes within Iran’s energy system.

The latest attacks mark an escalation beyond earlier strikes on Iranian  steel plants and other industrial assets, as the Trump administration and Israel increasing target Iran’s economy. Now petrochemicals is in the cross hairs, another major source of export foreign exchange earnings and global industrial supply chains. Mahshahr is a critical hub for polymer production, supplying materials used in packaging and agriculture worldwide.

Market participants are bracing for volatility, particularly in crude oil and refined products, as well as downstream petrochemicals. Traders expect that damage to export capacity could exacerbate existing supply constraints, with knock-on effects on pricing as stockpiles elsewhere are already dwindling. The extent of the disruption remains unclear.

“US knows this will trigger Iran to bomb more GCC petrochemical infrastructure and further worsen the energy crisis, so effectively this is the US bombing energy infrastructure in all Gulf countries, the US deliberately destroying the global economy to try to gain control of Iran,” said Mark Ames, a long-time Emerging Markets reporter and host of the War Nerd podcast.

Analysts expect Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will make in-kind retaliatory strikes against infrastructure across the Gulf, including facilities in Saudi Arabia and Israel.