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The conflict in the Middle East creates additional unknowns. “The whole issue of supply chain reliability will become more important,” CEO Stefan Paul told journalists on March 3.

A decision to tap the Energy Department’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve could help stanch price spikes, at least temporarily. The reserve currently holds about 415 million barrels.

Shipowners and brokers are demanding more than $200,000 a day for LNG tankers in the Atlantic Basin, roughly double what they were commanding less than a day earlier, according to sources.

Agriculture traders rushed to adjust positions with the escalating conflict in Iran threatening to disrupt supply chains from corn and soybean meal to fertilizer and sugar.

Some carriers are canceling bookings temporarily, skipping some port calls, warning of delays and implementing surcharges to transport containers through the conflict zone. 

Chicago’s Interstate 294 at I‑290/I‑88 has been named the nation’s top freight bottleneck in 2026, according to a new analysis from the American Transportation Research Institute.

“It’s the rockets and feathers effect,” said Christopher Knittel, professor of energy economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “When things are going up — they go up fast.”

“One of the things in this industry is that there’s always uncertainties,” Krista Swanson, chief economist at the National Corn Growers Association, said in an interview.

The most immediate impact from the escalating Middle East conflict is through market reaction as investors take flight to safe havens such as the dollar and gold, while stocks slump.

Not only are the capital expenditures eating into Amazon’s free cash flow, but market pros are growing impatient about when they’ll pay off in dramatic fashion.