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Iran has allowed a limited number of cargo ships carrying grains and other agricultural goods through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war with the US and Israel, as Tehran tries to shore up critical supplies.
At least six vessels unloaded at the Iranian port of Imam Khomeini, a key commercial hub in the north of the Gulf, and then passed through the strait in Iran’s territorial waters between March 15 and 16, according to FT analysis of marine tracking data.
A further five ships that unloaded at Imam Khomeini had also navigated the strategic waterway on a different shipping lane since March 9, to reach the Gulf of Oman, analytics firm Kpler said.
These five include the Giacometti, which crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Friday to enter the Gulf, carrying a cargo of Canadian soyabeans bound for Imam Khomeini.
Nearly all of the 11 ships are under Greek management, making them among the few western-owned vessels that have passed through the strait since the war began on February 28. One of the Greek vessels, the Star Gwyneth, was hit by a missile on March 11.
Bulk cargo ships have made up the majority of the few transits of the strait after Iran imposed a de facto closure of the waterway in retaliation for the US-Israeli war.
Iran’s stranglehold over the strait has brought exports out of the region to a near halt, causing a surge in energy prices as about one-fifth of the world’s oil normally passes through the waterway.
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Grains imported through Imam Khomeini are normally overwhelmingly for Iranian consumption, according to analysts.
Although Iran produces much of its own food, it still relies heavily on imports of grain and oilseeds. These imports are processed into cooking oil as well as livestock feed.
The country produced about 1.5mn tonnes of corn a year and imported between 8mn and 10mn tonnes, mainly from Brazil, Andrey Sizov, managing director of grain consultancy SovEcon, said.
Agriculture had been “a pain point” for the Iranian regime, Sizov said, noting that the country was already facing a critical water shortage before the conflict, which has hindered agricultural production. “It’s a huge problem for farmers,” he added.
Before the war, Iranian authorities reported that 4mn tonnes of wheat had been set aside as strategic reserves, enough to meet demand for approximately four months.
This month agriculture minister Gholamreza Nouri Ghezeljeh said that bakeries had received nearly two months’ worth of flour allocations and urged the public not to engage in panic buying.
But Tehran subsequently announced it was halting all exports of food and agricultural goods until further notice, aiming to secure enough supplies for its population.
Even before the conflict, increasing food costs had already pushed many Iranian families into hunger. Annual inflation was 47.5 per cent as of February, according to Iran’s statistical agency.
A lack of basic grains in Iran would have a knock-on effect throughout food supply chains, Evan Smith, chief executive of Altana, a supply chain technology company, said.
“When the strait closes, it is not only the grain shipment from India that stops,” he added. “The feed supply for domestic livestock stops. The inputs for local food processing stop. The entire production network degrades, not just the import line.”
S&P Global said there had been “a noticeable increase in bulk carriers travelling eastbound through the strait”.
Many were transiting “outside of the conventional corridor” and between the Iranian islands of Qeshm and Karak, suggesting that Iran was allowing traffic to pass through waters that it could monitor more closely, it added.
Additional reporting by Nassos Stylianou
