The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has sparked volatility in global commodity markets, particularly crude oil, a development that is expected to directly raise manufacturing and transportation costs, industry honchos in Ludhiana said on Sunday. A worker stands in front of a furnace at a steel processing production line of a factory in Mandi Gobindgarh in Punjab. (Reuters file) The US and Israel launched coordinated, massive missile attacks on Iran that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran countered with missile strikes at targets across the Mideast. “The war has begun to affect industrial activity in Ludhiana, leading to rising input costs and uncertainty in export markets, warned leading trade bodies, representing the cycle, knitwear and engineering sectors. Gurmeet Kular, president of the Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisations (FICO), said industries dependent on steel, rubber and petroleum-based products were already feeling the pressure. “When crude and other raw material prices shoot up because of geopolitical tensions, small and medium industries suffer immediately. This is a natural economic outcome of war-linked price swings. Policy …