A photo taken on April 9, 2026 shows of the Urea production facility (L) at the SKW Piesteritz agro-chemical plant in Piesteritz near Wittenberg, eastern Germany. As the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues to roil the global economy, one German town has been scrambling to help make up the shortfall in essential supplies of fertilisers. Wittenberg, better known to many as a cradle of the Protestant Reformation, is also home to a chemical plant founded in 1915, in the midst of World War One. At SKW's sprawling 220-hectare site, a 23-kilometer rail transports urea, ammonia and finished fertilisers, destined for sites across Germany and also elsewhere in Europe. SKW is Germany's largest producer of urea, an essential component of fertilisers. The plant has been running at full capacity to try to make up the shortfall in supply from the Hormuz blockade. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP via Getty Images)