The Reserves · One Buffer, Two Planting Windows
RESERVE LEVEL Reserves full Northern planting India, Pakistan · Jun–Jul input damage largely banked Southern planting S. America, Australia, palm · Sep onward ? NOW in transit Strait reopens · fertiliser ships arrives after the main northern window has closed WAVE ONE Hormuz fertiliser & energy shock · Feb–now WAVE TWO El Niño · late 2026 into 2027
The first wave drew the reserves down. The northern hemisphere is planting now, into that lower level, and the strait reopens too late to refill it. The southern hemisphere plants later, into an El Niño that will by then have strengthened. The same drawn-down buffer underlies both, and the reopening everyone is waiting for does not arrive in time for the crop already in the ground.