Russland: Gebt mir eure Armen, eure hungernden Massen

Submission Statement: The war in Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz to fertilizer shipments. About a third of the global maritime fertilizer trade passes through that route. Urea prices are up nearly 40% since February 28. The food crisis that follows will arrive in waves, not all at once.  

There is one clear beneficiary. Russia is the world’s second-largest fertilizer exporter, unaffected by events in the Gulf, selling more at higher prices with no risk of sanctions. The political gains matter as much as the financial ones.  

Alexander Kolyandr warns that Russia is becoming structurally indispensable to the Global South’s food supply, and the Kremlin will exploit that leverage.