Middle East Crisis Oil Market

Iran: Iraqi Ships Allowed to Pass Strait of Hormuz

Iran's military says Iraqi ships are allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg reports, citing state news agency Irna.

- Brotherly Iraq is exempt from all restrictions we have placed on the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's military spokesman said in a video message published by Irna.

This means that up to three million barrels of Iraqi oil a day can pass through the strait.

The oil crisis is quickly becoming an "everything crisis"

The oil crisis caused by the war in Iran is quickly leading to a shortage of all sorts of other products - from food to rubber gloves to cosmetics, CNN reports.

Rising oil prices also mean that the price of plastic, rubber and polyester is rising. And when plastic packaging becomes more expensive, the price of the products inside is also affected. So far, the price increase is being felt primarily in Asia, which produces a large part of the world's goods.

“This is spilling over into everything very, very quickly: beer, noodles, chips, toys, cosmetics,” says business analyst Dan Martin.

In South Korea, people have started panic buying garbage bags. Rice farmers in Taiwan say they are being forced to raise prices because they cannot get their hands on vacuum packaging. In several countries, there is also concern that the healthcare system will suffer, as there is a risk of a shortage of doctors' protective gloves and tubes used in blood dialysis.