Cosmetics, food products, pharmaceuticals, automobiles or precious marbles: the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz constitutes an "unprecedented freeze" in global maritime trade, which weighs mainly on petroleum products, but threatens many other industrial sectors.

What is the importance of the Strait of Hormuz for global trade in goods?

This route primarily facilitates oil and gas exports from the Gulf countries. The strait is a key transit point for oil trade. A quarter of the world's oil and a fifth of its liquefied natural gas pass through it.

But access to the Strait of Hormuz is not essential on the major Asia-Europe route, as the road ends in a dead end near Kuwait, Iraq and Iran, analysts point out.

On the other hand, the passage through the strait is essential for regional trade as it allows goods to arrive at the port of Dubai, Jebel Ali, the 10th largest container port in the world, and a redistribution hub for more than a dozen countries in the region.

At Jebel Ali, container ships are unloaded onto smaller boats bound for countries from East Africa to India, notes Anne-Sophie Fribourg, vice-president of the TLF union which brings together all the freight forwarders in France, i.e. the intermediaries between exporters/importers and shipowners.

Has the strait ever been closed to maritime traffic?

There has never been a closure. Even during the Gulf War, "there was never a complete halt to trade" through the Strait of Hormuz, several experts point out. During the Iran-Iraq War between 1980 and 1988, there were attacks on oil tankers, but commercial passage was maintained, notes Paul Tourret, director of the French Higher Institute of Maritime Economics.

The current "freeze" on transit at Hormuz is "unprecedented", adds Cyrille Poirier-Coutansais, director of the research department at the Naval Strategic Studies Centre in France.

Because since the start of the strikes on Iran, the largest shipowners, the Italian-Swiss MSC, the Danish Maersk, the French CMA CGM, the German Hapag Lloyd and the Chinese Cosco, have ordered their ships to stop moving and take shelter.

On the Marine Traffic map, where you can follow the route and progress of ships around the world, you can see "groups of ships", mostly oil tankers, stopped in the far north near Kuwait, but also near Dubai, as well as the presence of the Iranian merchant fleet in front of the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on the other side of the strait.

Several other distinct groups of stationed boats are visible just before the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, explains Mr. Tourret.

What goods pass through Hormuz?

Cars, machinery, and industrial products come from Germany. From France, it's mainly cereals and agricultural products, cosmetics, luxury goods, and pharmaceuticals. Italy exports processed foods, a lot of marble and ceramics, and the Netherlands also exports processed foods, notes Anne-Sophie Fribourg of TLF.

In terms of exports, in addition to oil and gas products, from which fertilizers and plastics are derived, the Middle East accounts for 9% of global primary aluminum production, almost all of which is exported, according to TD Commodities.

Will the route changes lengthen travel times or increase costs?

Several e-commerce platforms have warned their customers that delivery times will increase, from a few days at Temu and Shein to about ten days at Amazon, according to Bloomberg.

Freight prices are already rising, particularly due to additional costs imposed by shipowners for deliveries in the region.

For the Europe-Asia route, ships are no longer using the Red Sea and Suez Canal due to fears related to renewed attacks by the Houthis, allies of Iran. The route around the Cape of Good Hope, at the tip of South Africa, adds about ten days to the journey and incurs an additional cost of approximately 30%.