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Source: https://jcfa.org/irans-hormuz-blockade-redraws-global-energy-power-dynamics/
Iran's Hormuz Blockade Redraws Global Energy Power Dynamics
(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Ella Rosenberg - For years, China relied heavily on discounted, illicit oil shipments from Iran to feed its massive independent refining sector in Shandong province. In the wake of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, China's imports of Iranian crude have fallen by nearly a third, sending shockwaves through its domestic refining industry. Every dollar added to the price of a barrel of oil acts as a direct tax on Chinese manufacturing, eroding export competitiveness and stoking domestic inflationary pressures. India faces an equally severe economic crisis. Unlike China, which possesses significant domestic coal reserves and a network of cross-border overland pipelines, India is almost entirely dependent on maritime imports to meet its domestic energy needs, importing over 80% of its crude oil. The macroeconomic toll on India has been immediate and severe, manifesting in a widening current account deficit, intense pressure on the rupee, and a sharp escalation in domestic fuel and fertilizer prices. This has resulted in an unprecedented surge in Indian imports of Russian Urals crude, transported via northern maritime routes and the Black Sea, completely transforming India's energy map. The writer is an Iran and financial terrorism expert and a senior research fellow at the Jerusalem Center.