ICL Group Ltd., which has production assets in southern Israel, said its business activities continue to function nearly two weeks after the deadly attack by Hamas (GM Oct. 13, p. 1). However, ICL President and CEO Raviv Zoller in a Linkedin post this past weekend shared news of several employees who were killed or remain missing after the attack.
Zoller said Evgeny Kapchiter, 36, a company electrician at the ICL Rotem site, was killed along with his wife and five-year-old son, while their eight-year-old daughter is considered missing. Tali Bartik, a member of ICL’s Industrial Products (IP) division supply chain, also remains missing, while the sons of two other employees and the daughter of another employee were killed in the attack.
“The agony of their loss is immeasurable, and our hearts ache for their family and friends,” Zoller said. “In these challenging times, our primary focus is on providing unwavering support to our employees and those among us who have been directly affected by the ongoing hostilities. At the same time, ICL is reaching out to the communities affected by the horrific tragedy, offering vital support. We are providing all possible immediate aid to those affected.”
Stocks with exposure to Israel, especially those tied to technology, generic drugs, and defense, may move as the US seeks to head off a widening of the conflict, with the exchange of fire growing more intense on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, Bloomberg reported earlier this week.
The US and its allies are ratcheting up efforts to prevent the war between Israel and Hamas from engulfing the wider region, driven by concerns that a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces could prompt Iran to enter the conflict.
US President Joe Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Oct. 18, a trip that originally had been scheduled to also include meetings in Amman with Jordan’s King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The Arab leaders cancelled their meetings, however, following the deadly blast on Gaza’s Al-Ahli Arab hospital on Oct. 17, which killed nearly 500 people.
ICL’s shares early this week were up the most in almost 10 weeks. While the fertilizers and chemicals group on Oct. 9 said there was no impact on its production or exports, there are concerns about potential disruptions, particularly for its potash supply to global markets.
Israel’s port of Ashdod, which is some 40 kilometers north of the Israel-Gaza border, is a key hub for ICL’s potash exports, putting as much as 3% of global potash supply at risk, according to Scotiabank analyst Ben Isaacson. The port has been operating in “emergency mode” since the attack on Oct. 7, and in some cases “war risk” surcharges on cargo are being implemented.
According to a research report last week from S&P Global Market Intelligence, as cited by Bloomberg, the risk levels at five Israeli ports range from “very high to severe,” with Ashdod and Ashkelon “very likely” to see unscheduled closures on short notice due to security issues. Ashkelon is an energy port and pipeline terminal located 15 kilometers south of Ashdod.
“Ashdod commercial port and the Ashkelon energy port and pipeline terminal are the most vulnerable to rockets launched by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad from Gaza,” wrote S&P Global principal analyst for the Middle East and North Africa, Kevjn Lim, as cited by Bloomberg.
According to the latest update by the UK-based North Standard P&I Association, citing representatives of Israel’s Harpaz P&I and M. Dizengoff P&I clubs, the ports of Ashdod, Haifa, and Eilat are operating “as usual,” though there are restrictions at Ashdod on vessels carrying hazardous materials.
The port of Ashkelon, however, is not operating as usual, with decisions related to mooring vessels and discharging cargoes subject to change at any time based on the security situation.
Several analysts are doubtful that there is any serious risk of transport disruptions in the region that would widen to include vessel traffic through the Suez Canal, however. Egypt controls the canal, and there would be little incentive to restrict such a critical shipping lane, said Ziad Daoud, Chief Emerging Markets Economist with Bloomberg Economics in Dubai.
“The big risks are the Straits of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandab because those passageways are key for energy shipments,” Daoud said. The Bab el-Mandab waterway connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.