Middle East War Impact
Qatar Stops Production
QatarEnergy has halted LNG and associated products’ production at Ras Laffan following strikes on Gulf energy infrastructure, underlining a direct escalation in regional energy-system risk.
Iran Out
Just as Iran was resuming urea production, the war is no doubt expected to take Iran's urea output offline again, effectively removing granular urea tonnes from global trading.
Region Producers Assess the Situation
Major Middle East urea suppliers have withdrawn physical offers as they take stock of the situation and gauge the increasingly complicated shipping situation in the region. Iranian urea to be assumed halted production all together. This is going to add a major amps unprecedented pressure on global urea trading which will be mirrored into sharp rises in process globally as buyers will seek other workable origins driving other benchmarks prices up
Egypt, FOB Market Reprices Higher
A urea producer is reported to have concluded a 5,000-to0nne granular urea cargo for March loading at $522 per tonne FOB. This is a harp increase of $32 tonne compared to last Friday's assessment.
Logistics Drives Cost of Trade Up
Escalation in the Gulf is translating into higher transactional costs:
War-risk insurance premiums for vessels calling in the region are rising as underwriters reassess exposure.
Freight rates are firming, with some shipowners reluctant to fix prompt Gulf loadings, while other will seek additional premiums with more clarity on the developing situation.
Potential rerouting or waiting times are adding further uncertainty, time and cost to other markets
Paper Markets React Instantly
Urea paper contracts have reacted sharply, with some positions rising more than 10% since last week, reflecting hedging activity and speculative positioning around escalating Middle East conflict induced risk.
AFRIQOM Market Reporter
