Commodity Shockwaves : How the U.S.-Iran Conflict Reshapes Global Energy, Food and Mineral Markets

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Commodity Shockwaves : How the U.S.-Iran Conflict Reshapes Global Energy, Food and Mineral Markets

July 9, 2026

Following recent developments in the Middle East, the Policy Center for the New South is launching a three-part webinar series on the strategic, geopolitical, security, and economic consequences of the US-Iran conflict.

Building on the publication Hormuz and the Invisible Fractures: The Price of a Distant War – Views from the New South, the series examines the Strait of Hormuz as both a vital maritime chokepoint and a fault line in a changing global order. While the recent U.S.–Iran agreement has eased immediate tensions, the crisis remains ongoing and continues to evolve, making this publication a timely snapshot of a dynamic and still-unfolding geopolitical landscape.

Drawing on the volume's multidisciplinary analysis, the webinars explore the conflict's implications for the New South, global trade routes, energy security, and the evolving international order, while fostering informed discussion on the long-term strategic lessons emerging from the crisis.

This session examines the global commodity repercussions of the Iran conflict, focusing on energy markets, food security, and critical mineral supply chains. It assesses the strategic significance of the Strait of Hormuz as a major global trade chokepoint and the vulnerabilities it exposes across regions. The discussion also addresses how Africa, and South America can strengthen their resilience to commodity shocks and supply disruptions in an increasingly fragmented global economy.

Speakers

Boutaina Lmasrar

Morocco

Junior Economist

Boutaina Lmasrar is a Junior Economist at the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS).  At PCNS, she conducts research on topics related to agroeconomics, agroecology, and sustainable development. Prior to joining PCNS in 2025, Boutaina contributed to research projects at the Africa Business School of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P). She holds an engineering degree in Statistics and Applied Economics from the National Institute of Statisticsand Applied Economics (INSEA) in Rabat, Morocco.  Boutaina was selected to participate in the “Spaceborne EO Technology for Agricultural Data” training program, co-organized by the World Bank Group’s Center for Development Data, Data Academy, and the European Space Agency.  She is fluent in Arabic, Eng ...

Hinh T. Dinh

Senior Fellow

Hinh T. Dinh is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, Morocco and President of Economic Growth and Transformation, LLC., VA, USA. Previously, he worked at the World Bank Group where his last position was Lead Economist in the Office of the Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. He has authored and co-authored books published by the World Bank, Oxford University, and the Policy Center for the New South, and has written articles in professional journals covering public finance, international finance, and industrialization. His latest books include Tales from the Development Frontier (2013), Light Manufacturing in Vietnam (2013), Jobs, Industrialization, and Globalization (2017), Morocco (2020), COVID-19 and Developing Countries (2022), and Vietnam’s Economi ...

Hafez Ghanem

Senior Fellow

Hafez Ghanem – who holds a PhD in Economics from the University of California, Davis – is Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a development expert with a large number of academic publications; and more than forty-year experience in policy analysis, project formulation and supervision, and management of multinational institutions.  He has worked in over 40 countries in Africa, Europe and Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, and South East Asia.   Between 2015 and 2022 he was Vice President of the World Bank, initially responsible for the Middle East and North Africa, then for Sub-Saharan Africa and then East and Southern Africa.     In this latter capacity he was responsible for developing and implementing the World Bank ...

Otaviano Canuto

Senior Fellow

Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, Affiliate Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at Brookings Institute. Former Vice President and Executive Director at the World Bank, Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Vice President at the Inter-American Development Bank. ...