Hormuz disruptions hitting small businesses hardest, UN trade agency warns

GENEVA, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz could push small and medium-sized businesses out of global supply chains, increasing economic concentration and ‌weakening the resilience of international trade, the United Nations Conference on Trade ‌and Development said on Tuesday.

• Rising energy bills, freight rates, insurance premiums and financing constraints sparked by the ​U.S-Iran war place heavier burdens on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) than on large firms, leaving them more vulnerable than large corporations that can diversify suppliers, markets and funding sources.

• SMEs account for around 90% of global businesses, 70% of employment and 50% of world GDP, according ‌to the report, meaning the ⁠disruptions risk ripple effects far beyond the shipping lanes.

• For months, markets have been rattled by the conflict in the Middle East which ⁠has caused major disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway between Iran and Oman through which a substantial share of global oil trade usually passes.

• After a ​month ​of calm in August, fighting in the Gulf ​resumed, with Iran and the U.S. exchanging ‌fire, sending global oil prices back up to levels unseen since July. Brent crude prices were up more than 2% on Tuesday, above $99 a barrel.

• Houthi attacks on southwestern Saudi Arabia have the potential to deepen the economic impact of the conflict by disrupting Middle East energy supplies beyond the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

• UNCTAD warned the disruption risked an "SME exclusion ‌effect", where smaller companies could be forced to ​scale back production, delay investments or exit value chains ​altogether, even if overall trade ​volumes eventually improve.

• "The risk is not only that trade slows globally. It ‌is that smaller firms can be really ​pushed out of ​the value chains, even when overall trade begins to recover," said UNCTAD spokesperson Marcelo Risi.

• UNCTAD said recent shocks had already been reflected in higher crude prices, ​lower shipping transit volumes and ‌rising borrowing costs, weighing particularly hard on SMEs, which already face higher ​relative operating costs such as electricity and import compliance than larger firms.

(Reporting by ​Olivia Le Poidevin; Editing by Hugh Lawson)