The CEO of Dow just delivered the most important number nobody is talking about.
275 days.
That's how long it would take global supply chains to recover from the Strait of Hormuz disruption.
Even if the passage reopened today.
Today. Right now. Mines cleared. Ships sailing. Zero further incidents.
Still 275 days of unwinding.
Here's why that number should terrify every investor still pricing this as a short-term geopolitical flare-up.
Dow isn't a hedge fund making a macro call.
Dow is one of the largest chemical and materials companies on Earth.
They don't speculate about supply chains. They live inside them.
When Jim Fitterling says 275 days he's reading his own order books. His own shipping contracts. His own input costs.
That's not an estimate. That's a confession from inside the machine.
Now recall everything that's happened this week alone:
Iran fired on 3 vessels and seized 2 ships.
Scammers charged Bitcoin for fake safe passage.
The U.S. Navy deployed minesweepers.
Italy sent 4 warships to join them.
The Pentagon threatened NATO allies who didn't support the operation.
And through all of it every expert assumed a quick resolution meant a quick recovery.
Fitterling just buried that assumption.
Energy markets. Shipping rates. Chemical feedstocks. Petrochemical production. Plastics. Pharmaceuticals.
Every supply chain that touches a ship touching Hormuz is now looking at a 275-day shadow.
The strait may reopen in weeks.
The damage lasts three quarters.
Markets haven't priced that in yet.