The extended closure of the Strait of Hormuz and extreme weather have jolted farm commodities prices to a two-year high, as fertilizer headaches and the prospect of smaller harvests drive food inflation risks.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer insists he’ll remain in the job and lead the Labour Party into the next general election, even as the controversy over his appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US refuses to die down.

Fertilizer prices were dropping sharply Friday after Iran said the Strait of Hormuz was open, bringing relief to farmers even as they still face delays in deliveries.

Alex Sanfeliu, head of world trading at Cargill Inc., is leaving the top agricultural commodities firm after three decades, according to people familiar with the matter.

Wheat rebounded from a one-month low in Chicago as optimism over the ceasefire in the Middle East faded, with any re-escalation potentially threatening further supply chain disruptions and higher price for farm inputs.

India is in talks with major producers and exporters of nitrogen-based and phosphatic fertilizers to secure direct procurement, according to a person familiar with the matter, as the Middle East conflict disrupts trade and constrains output.

China and Russia are delaying fertilizer shipments to Nigeria as the Iran war shakes up the global supply chain for the crucial crop nutrients.

Crop prices pared earlier losses as the US unleashed its most intense day of attacks on Iran, even after President Donald Trump suggested the war in the Middle East will end soon.

Palm and soybean oil prices surged and wheat hovered near the highest in almost two years as the war in the Middle East drove up energy and fertilizer costs and threatened to tighten supplies across agricultural markets.

The conflict in Iran threatens to disrupt a major fertilizer production and shipping hub, raising the risk of higher crop costs and food inflation.

Soybean futures hit their highest point in 20 months on Thursday, ahead of the expected submission of biofuel blending quotas by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Lukoil PJSC attempted a surprise push into grains trading from Dubai last year, before the plan was quickly scuppered by US sanctions on the Russian oil giant, according to people familiar with the matter.

Wheat futures rose for a second day in Chicago amid concern freezing weather in the US and Russia could damage crops, while traders kept an eye on geopolitical tensions.

India approved the export of some wheat-based goods, easing restrictions that have been in place for more than three years, on expectations for a strong harvest that will likely boost domestic supplies.

Yara International ASA warned that it could abandon a planned low-emission ammonia project in the US if the European Union was to exclude fertilizers from its flagship carbon border levy.

Wheat exports from Ukraine — one of the world’s major grain exporters — tumbled almost 25% in December as Russia stepped up attacks on the country’s port infrastructure that serves as its main export conduit.

Russia has set a grain export quota of 20 million tons for the latter part of the season, a level that should allow the world’s top wheat shipper to maintain significant sales abroad.

Key fertilizer stocks traded lower after a US decision to lift sanctions on one of the world’s major suppliers, though obstacles to flows are likely to persist.

Fresh efforts to end the war in Ukraine are putting renewed scrutiny on what will happen to the flow of multiple raw materials that have been upended by the near-four-year conflict.