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Traffic at the Strait of Hormuz largely remains stuck in the wake of the cease-fire deal between the United States and Iran, underscoring just how complicated it will be to restart the crucial energy and trade flows that power global agriculture.

For more than a month, the Iran war and effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz—a vital maritime choke point—have sent shockwaves through the energy and agricultural sectors, as the conflict has scrambled both the production and export of key commodities. Prices of urea, a fertilizer, have skyrocketed by as much as 40 percent, while energy costs have soared around the world, forcing dozens of governments to take emergency measures to stave off fuel shortages and help consumers bear the higher costs.

Traffic at the Strait of Hormuz largely remains stuck in the wake of the cease-fire deal between the United States and Iran, underscoring just how complicated it will be to restart the crucial energy and trade flows that power global agriculture.

For more than a month, the Iran war and effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz—a vital maritime choke point—have sent shockwaves through the energy and agricultural sectors, as the conflict has scrambled both the production and export of key commodities. Prices of urea, a fertilizer, have skyrocketed by as much as 40 percent, while energy costs have soared around the world, forcing dozens of governments to take emergency measures to stave off fuel shortages and help consumers bear the higher costs.

Even with a tentative cease-fire in place, nearly all of those challenges still remain up in the air. “It doesn’t resolve any of the uncertainty over when we will get back to........

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