There has been a massive jump in the price of red diesel, with quotes for 1,000 litres given to the Irish Farmers Journal on Wednesday morning as high as 105p/l, which is up nearly 40% when compared to prices around the 76p/l mark on Saturday.

Some suppliers quoted prices around 90p/l, while others said they were reluctant to quote prices at this stage. In a couple of cases, suppliers said they had stopped answering phone calls after fielding enquiries from very unhappy customers.

The turmoil in markets comes in response to US and Israeli strikes on Iran, which started on Saturday morning. Red diesel is subject to lower duty for non-road vehicles, but its price remains highly sensitive to fluctuations in the international crude oil market.

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It is a similar picture for home heating oil, which was priced around the 620p/l mark on Saturday morning, but has since risen to quotes of around 117-123p/l by Wednesday.

Fertiliser

Meanwhile, it will be a nervous wait to see where fertiliser prices go next, with a number of major suppliers pulling their price lists on Wednesday in response to the Middle East conflict.