Fertiliser shortages to have dramatic effect on food prices, says Duke of Westminster’s firm

The closure of the strait of Hormuz has throttled global supplies of fertiliser and driven up costs for UK farmers by up to 70%, sas Mark Preston of the Grosvenor Group. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

Fertiliser shortages caused by the Iran war have driven up costs for UK farmers by up to 70% and will have a “dramatic” impact on food prices globally next year, according to one of Britain’s most powerful property and farming companies.

Mark Preston, executive trustee of the 349-year-old Grosvenor Group, controlled by the Duke of Westminster, said fertiliser “was already quite expensive” before the 50% to 70% surge in prices since the start of the Iran war in late February.