Senior executives, directors, and major investors from the world’s largest fertiliser and grain companies have sold shares worth more than $66 million (£49 million) during price hikes linked to the Iran war, DeSmog can reveal.

Since the outbreak of the conflict in February, provoked by a U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran, fertiliser prices have increased by almost 45 percent – leading wheat producers in Australia to pare back planting, and some UK farmers to warn they may not sow for the summer season, risking soaring global grain prices.

The increased costs come after Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route. Around one-third of the world’s fertiliser, 20 percent of liquefied natural gas, and 25 percent of seaborne oil usually passes through the strait. The vast majority of chemical fertilisers are made from fossil fuels. 

DeSmog’s new analysis found that insiders at three firms – fertiliser giants CF Industries and Nutrien, and grain company Archer Daniels Midland – have sold shares worth tens of millions since the outbreak of the conflict.

As commodity prices have increased, so have the share prices of the world’s largest fertiliser and grain companies. In March, Nutrien saw its share value grow by over 50 percent, and CF Industries by nearly 40 percent. Although grain company shares have increased less markedly, they have also shown an upward trend.

DeSmog found that Kenneth Alvin Seitz, the CEO of the world’s largest fertiliser company, Nutrien, sold shares worth almost $5 million (£3.7 million) in March 2026 after the outbreak of the Iran war, making a $1.8 million (£1.3 million) profit on the transaction.

Three senior vice presidents at Archer Daniels Midland also banked nearly $8.5 million (£6.3 million) selling shares.

The Financial Times reported last month that insiders at CF Industries sold more than $30 million (£22 million) in shares after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz on 2 March. DeSmog’s analysis found that, in total, insiders at the firm have sold almost $50 million (£37 million) of shares since the war began.

In the U.S., Canada and, some European countries, publicly traded corporations must declare the sale of shares by insiders, including senior executives, board members, significant shareholders, and their close family members.

The findings come weeks after the United Nations’ World Food Programme warned that the conflict in the Middle East could push roughly 45 million more people into acute hunger. In the UK, food prices will rise by “at least” nine percent this year, according to warnings from the country’s Food and Drink Federation in late March.

“These findings are outrageous, but we shouldn’t be surprised,” said Mónica Vargas Collazos, head of the global programme at Grain, a sustainable food campaign group.

“When there are conflicts or other supply shocks, these companies use their monopoly power to jack up prices, extract mega profits, and enrich shareholders. Farmers and consumers pay the price.”

All the companies and individuals named were approached for comment, and there is no suggestion that they breached any rules or laws.

Fertiliser Boom

Bosses also cashed in during the Ukraine war. DeSmog’s findings reveal that insiders at five of the world’s largest fertiliser and grain companies – also including Bunge and Mosaic – sold shares worth nearly $515 million (£380 million) during price hikes liked to both the Iran and Ukraine wars.

W. Anthony Will, CEO of the world’s third largest fertiliser company CF Industries until January, sold shares worth over $150 million (£111 million) during price spikes linked to the conflicts. Will acted as an advisor to CF Industries until mid-March, and remains on its board.

Insiders at Archer Daniels Midland sold more than $90 million (£67 million) during the two wars, while insiders at Bunge unloaded shares for over $175 million (£129 million) during price spikes tied to the Ukraine war.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 caused fertiliser prices to quickly peak, followed by further increases between August and December as Russia’s squeeze on Europe’s gas supply caused fertiliser manufacturers to pause some operations.

Insiders at CF Industries banked just under $180 million (£134 million) in share sales in the year following the invasion.

Jennifer Clapp, food security expert with IPES-Food, and a professor at the University of Waterloo, Canada, told DeSmog that the findings underlined the need to move away from fossil fuels in food production.

“This crisis has revealed, in all too vivid terms, just how dependent our food system is on fossil fuels,” she said. “It is long past time to break free from this insecure oil-addicted model, and shift to more ecological forms of farming and more local, territorial food systems.”

Big Beneficiaries

In total, DeSmog identified 11 months where the Ukraine and Iran wars contributed to soaring fertiliser and grain prices. Insiders sold 45 percent more shares in these 11 months than in the three intervening years combined.

Company executives often pre-plan sales and acquisitions ahead of time to demonstrate that they are not trading based on insider knowledge or gaming the market. Of the 136 sales analysed, only 28 were linked to these plans – suggesting that the vast majority were deliberate, in-the-moment decisions based on high share prices.

Beneficiaries included CF Industries’ Christopher Bohn, the company’s current CEO, who sold more than 150,000 shares for over $13 million (£9.6 million) in February and August 2022. He was the company’s chief financial officer at the time.

Other beneficiaries included an executive vice president CF Industries who sold shares worth nearly $30 million (£22 million) during key moments of the Ukraine war.

Executives and board members are often awarded shares by firms as part of compensation plans. CF Industries awarded W. Anthony Will, its then CEO, more than 150,000 shares on 28 February 2022 at the end of a three year compensation plan. 

As part of compensation packages, companies can also give executives and directors the right to buy shares for several years at a fixed price, incentivising the individuals to increase their value. In multiple transactions, insiders were able to use this arrangement to purchase shares below market price, and then sell them for a significant profit.

Alongside his freely awarded shares, Will also purchased more than 1 million shares at below market price on 28 February. He then sold over 1.2 million shares worth $100 million (£74 million) the same day – four days after the Ukraine war broke out.

In one transaction, on 25 February 2022, the day after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, CF Industries’ Christopher Bohn purchased more than 100,000 shares under price guarantees dating back as far as 2014. He sold these shares at up to double the price – making $4 million (£3 million) in profit.

Grain Prices

Global wheat prices could rise by 4.2 percent if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed for a sustained period, according to the Kiel Institute.

Rising grain prices have been caused in part by disruptions to oil and gas supply – increasing the cost of fertilisers and therefore of intensive food production.

Archer Daniels Midland and Bunge are part of the “ABCD” firms that collectively control more than 70 percent of the global grain market.

In 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the value of shares in the two companies increased by almost a third.

Beneficiaries included Juan R. Luciano, CEO of Archer Daniels Midland, who purchased 300,000 shares at below-market price before selling them for almost three times the value in October 2022. He made a $18 million (£13 million) profit from the transaction.

The transaction was pre-planned, but will have been scheduled to take place on a particular date or once share prices reached a certain high.  

Archer Daniels Midland’s share price soared in October 2022 – the month when Russian leader Vladimir Putin upped threats to leave the Black Sea Grain Deal, which allowed for the safe export of grain, food, and fertiliser from Ukrainian ports.

The single biggest wins were made by Paul J. Fribourg and Continental Grain, a private investment firm and agribusiness conglomerate led by Fribourg and established by his family. Fribourg was a board member at Bunge until the end of 2022. He and Continental Grain sold shares worth nearly $170 million in March 2022, although they also appear to have begun selling off part of their stake in the months prior to Russia’s invasion.

Bunge told DeSmog that “Continental Grain has no current ownership position and exited its stake in Bunge in 2023.”

A spokesperson added that “Bunge’s role is to help keep essential food, feed and fuel supply chains moving safely and reliably, in compliance with all applicable laws.”

Fact checked by Brigitte Wear