New York, August 24 (QNA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said ongoing attacks and disruptions to maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, particularly around the Bab Al Mandab Strait, are hindering the global flow of energy supplies, fertilizers and other essential goods.

Speaking to reporters at UN headquarters on Monday, Guterres said the crises are choking the arteries of global trade and placing immense pressure on the global food system, leading to higher prices, worsening hunger, declining crop yields and increased suffering, particularly among the world’s most vulnerable populations.

Guterres stressed that strategic maritime routes must never become tools of coercion and that global food supplies must never become collateral victims of conflicts.

He noted that oil prices remain around 33 percent higher than they were when the war in the Middle East began, while global container shipping costs are 84 percent higher than a year ago, with fertilizer and other essential input costs also rising sharply. (QNA)