Ankara: The price of urea increased by 1.58% on Wednesday, surpassing the $610 mark for the first time since October 2022. This rise comes in the wake of the closure of the Hormuz Strait.

According to Anadolu Agency, the price of urea reached $610.5 per ton as of 1720GMT. This reflects a 35.07% increase on a monthly basis and a more than 57.96% increase since the start of the year. The Hormuz region is a critical transit route, with 44% of sulfur, 31% of urea, 18% of ammonia, and 15% of phosphates passing through it. These are all essential components of fertilizers.

Sulfur prices also saw an increase of 0.73% on the same day. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most vital transit routes, especially for the energy sector, with approximately 20 million barrels of oil passing through it daily. The closure of this strait was announced by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps following the commencement of US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28.

Last week, the US agriculture secretary announced plans to reduce urea prices. On Tuesday, Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council, stated that while the US can mitigate the issue, it cannot completely resolve it.