Brazil’s relationship with the Middle East runs in two directions, and the war in Iran now threatens both. The country sends corn, soybeans, chicken and beef through the Strait of Hormuz to some of its most important food customers. In return, it brings back the fertilizer its farms cannot function without. With Operation Epic Fury entering its second week and Hormuz effectively closed to commercial traffic, Brazilian agribusiness faces the predicament of losing an export market and a critical input supply simultaneously.
The numbers explain the anxiety. Iran was the largest single buyer of Brazilian corn in 2025, purchasing roughly 9 million tonnes — 20% of total shipments, according to Reuters and government trade data. It was also a major destination for soybeans and sugar. Across the broader Middle East, Brazil sent 30% of its poultry exports and 32% of its corn to the region last year. The Arab League accounted for $10.3 billion of the country’s food exports, making it the second-largest bloc buyer after Asia.
Rerouting the Chicken
The Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA) confirmed this week that poultry companies are renegotiating shipping routes with the agriculture ministry. Cargo previously routed through Hormuz and Suez is being sent via the Cape of Good Hope, adding two weeks in transit and raising fuel costs by up to 40%. Hapag-Lloyd is already charging $3,500 per refrigerated container for Gulf-bound shipments.
Shipping agency Alphamar reported ten vessels with over 600,000 tonnes of Brazilian soybeans and soymeal scheduled for Iran this week, cargoes that may be diverted if conditions worsen. The timing offers one small mercy: Brazil’s corn shipments are concentrated in the second half of the year, meaning peak season for the most Iran-dependent commodity is months away.
The Fertilizer Chokepoint
The more consequential risk may be on the import side. Brazil covered 100% of its urea needs through imports in 2025, and data from consultancy Agrinvest shows that 41% of those imports — nearly 3 million tonnes — transited the Strait of Hormuz. Iran alone supplied 17% of Brazilian urea, exporting between 4.5 and 5.5 million tonnes globally from an annual production of about 9 million tonnes. Iranian producers have now halted output, and Egyptian urea plants are offline after Israel’s declaration of emergency disrupted gas deliveries.
Urea sellers across the Middle East withdrew price lists within days of the strikes. Saudi Arabia raised its reference price to $450 per tonne from $402, and Brazilian urea prices jumped $32 per tonne in the first week. Hudie Consulting founder Thamires Cateli said the war has effectively paralyzed the global nitrogen fertilizer spot market. Roughly one-third of all internationally traded nitrogen fertilizer passes through Hormuz.
What Happens to the Harvest
If fertilizer disruptions persist into Brazil’s September planting season for the 2026–27 crop cycle, the consequences could reach far beyond farm margins. Marcela Kawauti, chief economist at Lifetime Gestora de Recursos, warned that higher international urea prices would raise production costs across Brazilian agriculture, eventually pushing up prices for both fresh and processed food.
Alternative suppliers exist but face constraints. Russia provided about 16% of global urea in 2024, but a drone strike damaged a fertilizer plant in Smolensk last month. China has been cutting exports to prioritize domestic supply. The Gulf region collectively ships 3 to 4 million tonnes of fertilizer monthly, a volume no single alternative can quickly replace. Brazil’s trade with Iran may rank only 28th among its export partners, but when one country supplies both your biggest corn market and your most essential farming input, even a middling trade partner becomes an indispensable one.