Diesel prices for U.S. truckers rose by a record 25% this past week, an ominous sign for retailers and manufacturers juggling tariffs and bracing for higher shipping costs as the Iran war continues.

Most large trucking companies will pass the added costs on to stores and factories as fuel surcharges, the WSJ Logistics Report’s Paul Berger writes. The diesel price surge mirrored a surge in U.S. oil prices to nearly $120 a barrel over the weekend, before dropping on Monday and extending losses on Tuesday. It isn’t clear whether diesel prices will retreat, too.

The soaring diesel costs are among the first signs of the shockwaves rippling across global supply chains following the attacks on Iran. By March 6, the cost of European jet fuel had risen 80%, Clarksons Research data show. And bunker fuel prices in Singapore hit $1,116 a metric ton on Monday, up from just $485.50 a month earlier, according to industry publication Ship & Bunker.

Analysts at TD Cowen said in a recent note that they expect importers and exporters to bear the brunt of conflict-driven shipping delays and cost hikes, in the form of fees and surcharges. The conflict has strangled Middle Eastern airports that are hubs for more than 20% of cargo moving between Asia and Europe, Africa and the U.S. It has scrambled finely tuned container-fleet deployments across the world’s oceans and effectively closed the critical Strait of Hormuz.

Closed, that is, unless you’re carrying Iranian oil. Iran is exporting more oil through the strait than before the war, demonstrating its control of the strategic waterway, the WSJ’s Benoit Faucon and Costas Paris write.

Since the war started on Feb. 28, seven tankers have loaded oil off the Iranian coast, according to Kpler. Already, two have transited out of the Persian Gulf. Over the past six days, tankers have loaded a daily average of 2.1 million barrels of Iranian oil, higher than the 2 million barrels a day Iran exported in February.

In other Mideast developments:

• Iran placed mines in the Strait of Hormuz over recent days, and U.S. forces said they had destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels. (WSJ)
• The International Energy Agency has proposed tapping 400 million barrels of oil, with IEA countries set to decide on this largest-ever release from reserves on Wednesday. (WSJ)
• Saudi Arabia is ramping up crude flows through its East-West pipeline network amid the disruption to the region’s energy flows. (WSJ)
• British Airways said it was canceling all flights to and from Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai and Tel Aviv until later this month, while also suspending Abu Dhabi flights until later this year. (WSJ)
• The trickle of large oil tankers and gas transporters traversing the strait has included so-called shadow fleet vessels, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence. (WSJ)

The leap in fuel prices comes just as American automakers have been leaning back into gasoline-powered cars and trucks, the Journal’s Sharon Terlep and Christopher Otts write.

The national average price of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.48 a gallon as of Monday, up more than 15% since the start of the Iran war, according to OPIS. For many automakers, this is a headache they didn’t need after spending a year winding back plans to roll out new electric vehicles. Sales already had started slowly this year, with buyers fretting over record new-car prices and still-high interest rates.

Newly freed from federal mandates to churn out fuel-efficient vehicles, General Motors, Ford Motor and Jeep-Ram parent Stellantis last year slashed production of EVs while doubling down on big trucks and powerful engines. Detroit’s automakers alone announced more than $50 billion in combined write-downs over scrapped EV plans.

• Chinese EV maker NIO posted its first-ever net profit in the fourth quarter, driven by record sales and strong margins. (WSJ)
• Contemporary Amperex Technology, the world’s largest EV-battery maker, beat profit expectations for 2025 even as it grappled with higher lithium prices and cooling demand in China. (WSJ)

An Australian startup that developed plastic-eating enzymes is focusing its recycling technology on critical minerals and looking to raise more than $70 million, the WSJ’s Stuart Condie writes. Samsara Eco uses AI to design new enzymes that can break down commonly used types of plastics, allowing them to be reused in new products.

The company, which is backed by Singapore state-investment company Temasek and has a supply deal with apparel maker Lululemon, plans to tailor microscopic organisms to retrieve critical materials from electronic waste otherwise destined for landfills.

Samsara Eco’s enzymes reduce plastics into blocks, or monomers, that are indistinguishable from original material. This feedstock can then be used to make new items. If it can do the same with critical minerals, the company thinks it could boost supply to industries including automaking.

• Rio Tinto secured nearly $1.2 billion in financing for its $2.5 billion Rincon lithium project in Argentina. (WSJ)

• China’s exports surged 21.8% to $657 billion in January and February, widening its trade surplus to nearly $214 billion ahead of Trump’s Beijing visit. (WSJ)
• U.S. existing-home sales rose 1.7% in February to a 4.09 million annual rate, rebounding as buyers seized on falling mortgage rates. (WSJ)
• Japan’s economy grew 1.3% annualized in the fourth quarter, driven by capital spending, ending 2025 on firmer footing than anticipated. (WSJ)
• German exports of goods fell 2.3% in January, following declines in industrial orders and output. (WSJ)
• U.K. retail sales were flat in February, with the British Retail Consortium citing the Middle East conflict as a threat to recovery. (WSJ)
• Boeing said it will delay deliveries of some 737 MAX planes after discovering a problem with wiring on newly built aircraft. (WSJ)
• Kohl’s reported a 3.9% sales slip to $4.97 billion in the fourth quarter, but investors rallied behind the retailer’s long-term goals. (WSJ)
• Ocean Network Express agreed to acquire additional shares in Poseidon, the parent company of containership owner Seaspan, bringing ONE’s stake to 48.9% in a transaction potentially worth $1 billion. (Journal of Commerce)
• GE Aerospace plans to invest ​an additional $1 billion in its U.S. manufacturing ‌sites and supplier base this year to boost engine and parts output. (Reuters)
• China’s transport ministry summoned executives from Mediterranean Shipping Co.and A.P. Moller-Maersk to discuss what industry sources said was the continuing dispute over CK Hutchison’s Panama Canal ports. (Lloyd’s List)
• The U.S. Court of International Trade last week lifted a stay on a lawsuit seeking to revive the suspended de minimis tariff exemption, allowing the litigation to proceed. (SupplyChainDive)
• HD Hyundai Power Transformers USA last week broke ground for a $200 million expansion of its manufacturing facility in Montgomery, Ala., which is served by CSX. (TrainsPRO)

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at mark.long@wsj.com. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long, Liz Young and Paul Berger.