First came the price rises. Now output is falling in industries ranging from airlines to chemicals.

By Nora Redmond

Delta Air Lines announced it had cut some flights as jet fuel prices rise.

Companies have moved on from lifting prices to now reducing output as a consequence of the war in Iran.

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz since the beginning of the conflict, with no end yet in sight, has wreaked havoc on the production and shipment of fuels and gases as well as petrochemicals, aluminum and fertilizers, according to Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

Several airlines, including Delta Air Lines (DAL), Germany's Lufthansa (XE:LHA) and Dutch airline KLM (FR:AF), have confirmed in the past two weeks that they would be cutting flights over concerns about fuel shortages. Last week, International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol said in an interview with the Associated Press that Europe has "maybe six weeks or so [of] jet fuel left."

Mitsui Chemicals (JP:4183), Wanhua Chemical (CN:600309) and Formosa Petrochemical (TW:6505) have been among the Asian producers that have said they're reducing production.

Retailers have recently begun to note the consequence of the disruptions caused by the war on profits, with Associated British Foods (UK:ABF), the owner of Primark, warning of the impact on Tuesday.

"An encouraging start to spring/summer trading in March was followed by softer trading in April, as we started to see the impact of the Middle East conflict on the consumer," the group said in a statement, referring to its retail arm.

The agricultural trade has also been hit, with Vijay Chakravarthy, chief risk officer at Louis Dreyfus Company, telling the Financial Times earlier this week that investors' expectations of a shorter war meant the longer-term effects were being underestimated. "The market has not priced in a longer dislocation," he said. "Nobody is prepared for it."

On Wednesday, Europe's largest potash supplier raised its forecast for the year as prices for fertilizers have continued to climb as a reduction in liquefied natural gas exports curbed their production.

Shares in K+S (XE:SDF) jumped about 7% in Frankfurt after the German company focused on potash and magnesium products reported that it was updating its guidance from an expected earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of EUR600 million ($704 million) to EUR700 million ($821 million) to a range of between EUR630 million and EUR730 million.

The group put the change down to strong performance in the first quarter, prices continuing to rise in its agricultural unit over the past few weeks, and the strengthening of the U.S. dollar against the euro.

"However, the rising prices of materials, energy, and freight resulting from the conflict in the Middle East since March are having a negative impact, compared to the original assumptions," K+S wrote in a statement.

-Nora Redmond

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-22-26 1107ET