Former World Bank chief urges China to stop hoarding food, fertiliser stockpiles: Report

New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) China should stop hoarding food and fertiliser to ease the global supply crisis caused by the US-Iran war, former World Bank president David Malpass said, according to a report on Tuesday.

“They have the biggest world stockpile of foodstuffs and of fertiliser…They can stop building their stockpiles,” a BBC report cited David Malpass, who also served as Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs under US President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019.

Several countries are scrambling to secure fertiliser supplies ahead of spring planting due to closure of the Strait of Hormuz, when China has halted exports of several types of fertilisers since March, citing the need to protect domestic supplies.

The report noted warnings from industry that the interruption to supplies could cost up to 10 billion meals a week globally and hit the poorest countries hardest.

Svein Tore Holsether, chief executive of Yara, told the BBC that reduced crop yields due to scarcity of fertilisers could lead to a bidding war for food.

China accounted for about 25 per cent of global output of fertiliser in 2025, with exports totalling over $13 billion. China had already been imposing restrictions on fertiliser exports since 2021.

Malpass also criticised Beijing’s claim to be a developing nation pointing out that China is the second biggest economy in the world.

Responding to Malpass’s allegation, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington DC said, “China is universally recognized as the largest developing country – a designation grounded in ample factual evidence.”

“China is committed to maintaining the stability of global food and fertilizer markets,” Pengyu, told the media house adding that the blame for the current disruptions in global food and fertilizer supply chains cannot be pinned onto China.

Malpass also said free movement of ships in the Strait of Hormuz was in China’s economic interest and hence it would help find a resolution to the current deadlock in the conflict.

—IANS

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