The war in the Middle East could cause the "worst industrial crisis in living memory", the head of the International Chamber of Commerce has warned.
Skyrocketing crude prices since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran in late February have raised fears of a global recession, with Tehran in effect choking oil shipments through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
"The head of the International Energy Agency has warned that the world is facing an energy crisis more severe than the oil shocks of the 1970s," ICC chief John Denton said.
"From a business perspective, we believe this could yet become the worst industrial crisis in living memory," he added, speaking on March 25 on the eve of the meeting of World Trade Organization ministers in Yaounde, Cameroon.
"Not only because of surging energy prices, but because industrial production itself is being disrupted and dislocated by shortages of gas and other essential inputs."
Denton warned that the situation was already alarming, with Iran's de facto Hormuz blockade preventing the export of fossil fuels, fertilizers and other goods from the oil-rich Gulf region.
"We are already seeing major companies... cut output as shortages ripple through energy, chemicals and other critical supply chains," he said.
