Hormuz fertilizer shipments stay at zero for 2nd month as critical sulfur squeeze bites

Hormuz fertilizer shipments fell to zero in September and stayed there through October, according to tracking data compiled by World Visualized and highlighted by Swiss bank Syz Group on October 26. Before the conflict, the strait carried roughly 20% of globally traded nitrogen fertilizer.

The standstill contrasts with crude oil, where Gulf producers have rerouted barrels through pipelines and shuttle tankers. Fertilizer and its raw materials have found no equivalent workaround. An S&P Global report published October 19 estimated that about 29% of global urea trade, nearly half of seaborne sulfur and around 21% of ammonia trade normally move through the waterway.

Urea has absorbed the shock better than expected because China and the United States have increased exports. Sulfur is the tighter bottleneck. Prices have more than doubled to above $1,000 per tonne, and phosphate fertilizer prices have risen 25% to 30%, according to the Syz summary. Mosaic has idled phosphate operations, including its South Fort Meade site in Florida.

The data extend the near-zero readings in the WTO-AXSMarine trade tracker into a second full month, while the UN’s proposed fertilizer corridor remains stalled pending a U.S.-Iran agreement.

Source: Syz Group

What to know about Hormuz fertilizer shipments