Fuel, Freight, Fertiliser: The Iran War’s Supply Chain Cost Artwork

Resilient Supply Chain — How Leaders Keep Business Moving

Resilient Supply Chain is for supply chain, operations, procurement and technology leaders who need practical ways to manage disruption, reduce risk and keep business moving.

Each Monday, technology and sustainability analyst, keynote speaker and former SAP Global VP Tom Raftery speaks with the executives, operators, founders and innovators redesigning how goods, information and decisions move through global supply chains.

These are candid conversations about what works in practice—not polished PR narratives or vague predictions. Guests explain how they are responding to supplier failures, geopolitical shocks, volatile costs, capacity constraints, changing regulations and rising pressure to improve both performance and sustainability.

The podcast examines:
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AI, automation, visibility and operational intelligence
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The central question is simple: what helps a supply chain withstand disruption, adapt quickly and continue serving the business?

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Resilient Supply Chain — How Leaders Keep Business Moving

Fuel, Freight, Fertiliser: The Iran War’s Supply Chain Cost

March 27, 2026 • Tom Raftery • Season 2 • Episode 113

0:00 | 18:35

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What happens when a war hits not just oil, but fertiliser, LNG, jet fuel, shipping, and food? This isn’t just geopolitics. It’s a live stress test for global supply chains.

In this first bonus episode of Resilient Supply Chain+, I break down how the US and Israel’s war on Iran is rippling through global trade, energy markets, inflation, and food systems, and why this matters right now for anyone serious about supply chain resilience, sustainability, risk, and visibility. There’s no guest this week. Just me, cutting through the noise and focusing on the second-order effects business leaders and policymakers can’t afford to miss.

You’ll hear how disruption in the Strait of Hormuz is affecting far more than oil, from LNG and jet fuel to fertiliser, sulphur, and industrial inputs that sit underneath manufacturing and food production. I break down why this war is already becoming an inflation story, why shipping firms are sacrificing payload just to carry more fuel, and why fertiliser shocks may turn out to be quieter, slower, and even more destabilising than oil shocks.

You might be surprised to learn that the biggest strategic lesson here isn’t just about diversifying suppliers. It’s about reshoring energy. I explain why nearshoring manufacturing is only half the job if your operating model still depends on imported fossil fuels moving through militarised choke points, and why more local renewables, storage, electrification, and flexibility are increasingly resilience tools as much as sustainability tools. I also share a practical personal example from Spain’s blackout that brings that point home.

🎙️ Listen now to hear how this war is reshaping the future of resilient, sustainable supply chains.

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