Iran-Israel war could hurt exports, raise freight rates

India's exports to Europe and counters like Russia may get impacted due to this war

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NEW DELHI: The Iran-Israel conflict has further increased global economic uncertainties, impacting world trade, including India's exports, as it is expected to drive up both air and sea freight rates, exporters say.

They said that India's exports to Europe and counters like Russia may get impacted due to this war. If the conflict continues for long, the movement of merchant ships through routes such as Strait of Hormuz between Iran and UAE, and Red Sea would be affected.

"The war will further hurt global trade. The situation was gradually improving but now again the trade will be impacted. Our exports to Europe and countries like Russia may get hurt. Freight rates and insurance are expected to increase," Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President S C Ralhan said. Indian export consignments gradually started moving through the Red Sea route but now again it would get impacted, he said.

The immediate fallout of the conflict that started on early Friday or June 13 will be freight and insurance charges going up after a period of calm as Red Sea routes were slowly coming back to normal," Mumbai-based exporter and Technocraft Industries Ltd Founder Chairman S K Saraf said.