How the war in the Middle East paralyzed an Asian food giant

DELTA OF THE MEKONG RIVER, Vietnam — A dozen barges, loaded with freshly harvested rice, turned off their engines and came to a halt. Two enormous rice mills upstream stopped shelling and bagging the grain due to the increase in electricity prices. It was mid-morning in the Mekong River delta, in Vietnam, one of the most productive agricultural zones on the planet, in a country that is the world's second-largest rice exporter. Only the birds and the noise of a passing motorcycle could be heard. And in the silence, anxieties unfolded. Boat captains commented that diesel prices had doubled, rising even more and for longer than after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Harbor workers and those operating near forklifts were worried about having to look for new jobs. The shortage of fuel and fertilizers from the Middle East was already affecting a giant in food production, and regardless of the outcome of the war in Iran, the next planting season also appeared uncertain. "If I ...