Middle East conflicts significantly impact the fertilizer market, causing urea prices to surge over 50%.

Fertilizer is one of the key markets that has been heavily impacted. The conflict has led to a global shortage of ammonia, urea, sulfur, and phosphate supplies. At the same time, approximately 20% of global liquefied natural gas supply has been disrupted, and fertilizer producers in Europe and other regions require a significant amount of natural gas to convert nitrogen from the air into plant fertilizer. Since the air strike on Iran at the end of last month, urea prices in the Middle East have surged by over 50%. Farmers around the world are under immense pressure. If they cannot afford the cost of fertilizer, crop yields may decrease. World leaders have issued warnings about food shortages. In the United States, investors believe that the ample supply of natural gas in the US will give domestic fertilizer companies an advantage over overseas competitors facing rising costs. CF Industries Holdings, based in Illinois, saw its stock price rise by 37% this month, making it one of the top-performing stocks in the S&P 500 index. The US Department of Agriculture is set to release its annual farmers' planting intentions report on Tuesday, which could impact the futures and ETFs of agricultural products. Among the major economic crops in the US, maize requires a large amount of nitrogen fertilizer, while soybeans can fix nitrogen in the soil on their own. A decrease in maize planting area could push up its price, affecting the meat market through feed prices, and also impacting the prices of biofuels.