If so Strait of Hormuz crashes, the problem does not just concern the increase in fuel prices: the real risk is much larger and less visible. This Strait in fact represents one of the main “bottlenecks” of global trade: just 33 km wide at its narrowest point, with navigable lanes just 3 km wide, from Hormuz it passes approximately a fifth of the world’s oil and about 20% of liquefied natural gas. But stopping at energy means not examining the complete picture: Hormuz is actually a hub where they transit raw materials fundamental for numerous sectors, fromagriculture to industry up to finance and advanced technology. When transit across the Strait slows down or stops, what is generated is not a simple energy crisis, but a chain reaction that runs through the entire global economy.
Energy crisis and strategic resources: oil, gas, helium
The first impact of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is without a doubt energetic. Through Hormuz passes approximately the 20% of the world’s oil, making the Strait one of the most important chokepoints on the planet. Even gas natural liquefied is highly dependent on this route: approx a fifth of global LNG trade passes through the Strait, according to the IEA (International Energy Agency). This means that a significant part of the energy consumed in Asia and Europe depends indirectly on the stability of this passage. In the last weeks of April 2026, oil surpassed the 110 dollars a barrel, while the World Bank predicts an overall increase in global energy prices of 24%.
Next to oil and gas, then, there is a less well-known but equally strategic element: l‘helium. The Qatarone of the world’s leading helium producers, exports much of its production through Hormuz. According to data cited by the European Central Bank, approximately one third of global helium production is concentrated in Qatar and the Persian Gulf area. Helium is essential for semiconductorsnecessary for the chips of the devices we use every day such as smartphones or computers but also in the medical field for tests such as magnetic resonance imaging and also in the field of scientific research. Among its characteristics it is important to underline that it is not easily replaceable and does not last for a long time: for this reason also small logistical shocks they can also have immediate effects on technology and healthcare.
Agriculture, fertilizers and vegetable oils
One of the less obvious but equally important effects concerns theagriculture: from the Persian Gulf in fact, large volumes of fertilizers such as urea and ammonia, fundamental for global agricultural production. According to the World Economic Foruma significant share of these flows passes right through Hormuz. When supplies dwindle, fertilizer prices rise and farmers reduce their use. The effect is not immediate: it can manifest itself even months later, in the form of less productive crops and therefore higher food prices. In the first months of 2026, those of urea increased up to 50%, while the World Bank predicts a overall increase in fertilizers exceeding 30%.
Added to this is another little-explored effect that concerns the vegetable oils. In fact, in phases of energy crisis, the demand for energy increases biofuelswhich they use oils such as soybean, canola and palm. This creates a direct competition between food use and energy use of the same raw materials. Energy shocks such as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz tend to increase the prices of agricultural commodities precisely because of this substitution effect between food and fuel and the result is a indirect pressure on many processed food products, which depend on these oils as main ingredients or as industrial inputs.
Chemistry, technology and global logistics
Another effect resulting from the blockade of Hormuz concerns the chemical raw materials and industrial gases. Sulphur, methanol and petrochemical derivatives that pass through the Gulf are fundamental for fertilizers, plastics and industrial materials and are a structural component of the global supply chain. In parallel, gas like neon and argon they are essential for semiconductors and medical technologies: theInternational Energy Agency highlights that these supply chains are highly concentrated and vulnerable to even partial disruptions.
Finally there is the logistics: When risk increases, insurance costs rise, routes slow down and the overall efficiency of maritime trade decreases. So costs throughout the supply chain may increase even without full cross-Strait blockades. One of the least talked about effects, in this regard, concerns the marine insurance. When geopolitical risk increases, insurance companies recalculate the rates in real time. In 2026, according to industry analyzes reported by Reuters, “war risk premiums” (i.e. insurance premiums in the event of war) for ships transiting the Gulf are increase in some cases more than 300%. This does not block trade but makes it more expensive upstream, even if the oil physically continues to transit.
Hormuz then it’s not just an energetic passage. It is a node in which different and deeply interconnected sectors intertwine: energy, agriculture, chemistry, technology and food markets. The critical point is therefore not the crisis of a single sector, but their interdependence and it is precisely this interconnection that makes the Strait of Hormuz one of the most fragile and sensitive points of the current global economy, with repercussions in sectors that are sometimes little explored.
