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Nearly all goods — including food — that are bought and sold must travel from where they’re produced. Those costs will climb with higher gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices.

Disruptions to crude oil supplies wrought by the Middle East conflict are boosting the appeal of crop-based biofuels, lifting demand for vegetable oils and corn.

The war is showing no signs of abating after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran more than a week ago, and the fallout is stoking fears of an inflation crisis. The halt to shipping through Hormuz has driven up fuel prices.

The Trump administration announced a $20 billion reinsurance program aimed at reviving shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic has all but stopped amid the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. 

U.S. oil posted the biggest weekly gain on record as the war in Iran upends critical energy market flows, with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz at a near-total halt.

In a desperate bid to transport oil from the U.S. Gulf Coast to Asia, shippers have taken the unusual step of booking smaller vessels as costs soar for the massive tankers typically used. 

The escalating war has choked off oil and gas supplies to key customers in Asia and Europe and sent energy prices soaring.

Maersk will temporarily halt its FM1 Service, which connects the Far East to the Middle East, and its ME11 Service, which links the Middle East to Europe, according to a notice to customers on March 6.

A review of shipping signals have confirmed only two commercial transits in the past 24 hours, the Joint Maritime Information Center said in a note on March 6.

The U.S. oil futures rally took another move higher, sending prices to their highest in about 20 months as investors price in a prolonged war in the Middle East that could upend crude flows.