What Impact Will The Iran Crisis Have On Mineral Supplies?

In a world that is increasingly reliant on minerals for specialist machinery, technology and advanced agriculture, it is important to secure supplies. This does not just mean establishing customer relationships with suppliers or domestic sources, but handling crises.

This is an issue facing those who rely on minerals in the manufacture of many things just now, as the blockading of the Straits of Hormuz by Iran in the ongoing conflict with the US and Israel has done more than just squeeze global oil and gas supplies.

According to the World Economic Forum, other commodities that may be in short supply because of the crisis include:

Sulphur
Methanol
Graphite feedstocks
Iron ore and steel pellets

This highlights the dangers to many industries of ongoing disruption in the Straits of Hormuz, with nations around the world impacted by the Iranian blockade and now, potentially, by a further blockade by the United States.

What Mineral Supplies Are Unaffected By The Iran Crisis?

However, it is equally important to note that some other substances will not be so affected. For example, potassium titanate is not on the list, mainly because potassium in its mineral form is abundant, to be found in potash mines around the world.

This includes locations in the UK, such as the Woodsmith and Boulby mines, both in North Yorkshire.

However, some processes require multiple minerals and cases of supply chain disruption, whatever the cause, can have an impact on firms reliant on them all to make their products.

A mineral that the UK has hitherto sourced entirely by imports is lithium, but developments in Cornwall and County Durham mean that a large proportion of the demand will be met domestically over the next few years.

The key for all minerals companies, therefore, is to use UK-based supplies where possible, while having contingencies in place for the potential disruption of imported supplies in an increasingly turbulent world.