From Diet Coke to condoms, the world’s supply chains have faced surprising downstream disruptions.
Foreign Policy
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An infographic featuring a large central circular map of the Strait of Hormuz, showing the narrow waterway between landmasses. Surrounding the central map are several colorful circular icons, each containing an everyday object, connected to the map by thin black lines. The objects in the icons, moving clockwise from the top left, include: A yellow electric car, a gray missile, a gold star-shaped balloon, a silver aluminum beverage can, a pile of computer microchips, a square silver foil packet, resembling a condom wrapper, a white clawfoot bathtub, a yellow puffy winter jacket, a pair of white latex gloves Small, solid-colored dots in shades of yellow, beige, and black are scattered around the graphic.
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The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has laid bare the world’s economic dependence on the narrow waterway leading out of the Persian Gulf. Nearly three months into the Iran war, it is well known that around one-fifth of the world’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) and petroleum products normally passes through the strait.
Rising energy prices might be just the first harbinger of a truly global crisis, though. Despite a U.S.-Iran cease-fire, the ongoing Hormuz blockade is straining supplies of the other critical yet overlooked ingredients of the world economy that are downstream from fossil fuels, including sulfur, helium, nitrogen, aluminum, and plastics.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has laid bare the world’s economic dependence on the narrow waterway leading out of the Persian Gulf. Nearly three months into the Iran war, it is well known that around one-fifth of the world’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) and petroleum products normally passes through the strait.
Rising energy prices might be just the first harbinger of a truly global crisis, though. Despite a U.S.-Iran cease-fire, the ongoing Hormuz blockade is straining supplies of the other critical yet overlooked ingredients of the world economy that are downstream from fossil fuels, including sulfur, helium, nitrogen, aluminum, and plastics.
Trace those shortages further down supply chains, and it becomes clear that few commodities are insulated from the Iran war. From diet soda to the semiconductor industry and beyond, the impact of the conflict will likely be felt around the world long after the strait reopens.
This post is part of FP’s ongoing coverage. Read more here.
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Maxine Davey is an editorial fellow at Foreign Policy.
Eli Wizevich is an editorial fellow at Foreign Policy.
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