Mercuria’s first-half profit jumps 88% amid Hormuz crisis

Mercuria’s First-Half Profit Jumps 88% as Hormuz Crisis Fuels Commodity Trading Windfall

Mercuria Energy Group reported an 88% surge in first-half net profit, putting the Swiss commodity trader on track for one of its best-ever annual results as the Strait of Hormuz crisis and broader supply disruptions continue to reshape global energy and metals markets, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.financialpost

The privately held trading house’s results for the six months ending in March 2026 reflect how the current wave of geopolitical turmoil has handed outsize gains to the world’s largest commodity traders, which profit from volatility by rerouting physical supplies and exploiting price dislocations across regions.

A Crisis-Driven Boom

The Hormuz crisis, triggered by the escalating conflict involving Iran, has near-totally disrupted transit through a chokepoint that handles roughly 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows. The blockade, now in its fourth month, has reconfigured global energy and shipping routes and driven up prices across a wide range of commodities.reuters

According to Oxford Economics, more than two-thirds of commodities are expected to record price increases in 2026 as a result of the Iran war and its knock-on effects across energy, metals, and agriculture. This environment has proved extraordinarily profitable for the handful of firms with the global networks and balance sheets to navigate it.oxfordeconomics

Mercuria is far from alone. Trafigura reported net profit of $4.1 billion for the October 2025 to March 2026 period, while Gunvor said it earned as much in the first quarter of 2026 as it did in all of 2025, when it posted gross profit exceeding $1.6 billion. Firms including Vitol, Glencore, and Mercuria have all emerged as major beneficiaries of the current turmoil.kitco

Mercuria’s Expanding Ambitions

The profit jump comes as Mercuria pushes aggressively to expand its physical footprint. Earlier this month, the company reached a $1.42 billion deal to acquire one of Argentina’s largest refineries and a network of roughly 700 gas stations from Raizen, beating out rival Vitol in a competitive bidding process.batimes

Mercuria’s full-year 2025 net income came in at $1.43 billion, down from $1.52 billion in 2024 and a record $3 billion in 2022, according to Reuters. But the first half of its current fiscal year already suggests a sharp rebound, with the Hormuz-driven volatility providing the kind of trading conditions that initially propelled the industry to record earnings during the early phase of the Russia-Ukraine war.reuters

The windfall has not come without risk. The Financial Times reported in April that commodity traders initially lost billions in the early days of the Iran conflict, caught wrong-footed by bets on declining energy prices before pivoting to capitalize on the chaos.ft