Southeast Asia faces ‘sleeper’ food crisis from Hormuz fertiliser bottleneck

A hunger crisis could creep up on Southeast Asia if the region does not guard against export restrictions amid a fertiliser shortfall, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Secretary General John Denton has warned.

On the sidelines of the Future of Trade Forum in Singapore on Wednesday, Denton urged the city state, as the next Asean chair, to prioritise the “sleeper issue” for the region. He argued that the real story centred on food, despite the Strait of Hormuz gridlock being widely seen as an energy crunch.

He noted that the UN was able to carve out the Black Sea Grain Initiative during the Russia-Ukraine war by getting both sides to sign off on an agreement that allowed for the safe export of grain from certain ports, alleviating a global food emergency.

Under a UN-led task force on Hormuz, the ICC is involved in trying to implement a similar initiative through the troubled strait. However, the United States and Iran have yet to sign off on the plan.

“The context of Hormuz is different, but the actual elements of it are similar, in that you’ve got a trade route which has been effectively frozen, militarised,” Denton told This Week in Asia.