19 Mar 2026
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is causing significant impacts on global supplies of fuel and fertiliser, with around 20 per cent of the world’s oil supply and a third of global urea supply reliant on safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
Farmers and fishers across Queensland are already seeing signs of this tightening supply. We have heard from producers who have placed their usual monthly fuel orders only to be told they cannot be filled. In some cases, there is no clear timeframe for when supply will arrive, or what the eventual price will be.
Similar concerns are emerging around fertiliser orders. With Australia currently having no domestic production of urea fertiliser Australian farmers are heavily exposed to these global shocks.
Last week the Federal Government took a welcome step in temporarily amending Australia’s fuel quality standards to allow higher sulfur levels for a period of 60 days, allowing around 100 million litres a month of new petrol supply that would otherwise have been exported to be blended instead into Australian domestic supply.
The Federal Government followed this announcement with the release of nearly 20% of Australia’s fuel stockpile, and cut minimum stock obligations on petrol and diesel to increase fuel flows to regional Australia.
The Government must be prepared to take further action should the situation worsen, including enacting its powers under the Liquid Fuel Emergency Act 1984 to maintain food supply.
If farmers cannot access reliable and affordable fuel and fertiliser, many will be forced to scale back plantings. The consequences of that decision will not only affect farm incomes but also agricultural production and food availability in the months ahead.
This conflict is a wakeup call - Australia urgently needs a national food security and fuel security plan that strengthens our domestic capability in critical inputs. In the meantime, we need government support to stabilise the current disruptions while we work toward longer-term solutions.
These solutions could include ethanol mandates, with QFF member CANEGROWERS calling on the Federal Government to introduce a national E10 fuel mandate and expand domestic ethanol production, noting that while ethanol won’t replace petrol altogether, it can reduce our exposure to volatile global markets.