Oil Supply Shock Ripples Through Fertilizer, Plastics, and Tech

The worst supply shock in the history of the oil market is spilling over to critical supply chains, threatening shortages of medical supplies, fertilizers, semiconductors, and everyday consumer goods, including textiles, footwear, and cosmetics. When the Strait of Hormuz is shut, it’s not only Asian refiners scrambling for crude oil to turn into fuels. The naphtha, ammonia, urea, and helium supply that the Middle East would typically export via the most critical energy chokepoint is now trapped in the Persian Gulf. Petrochemicals producers…