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.
