The strongest El Niño in a generation is disrupting global industries from shipping to mining. French insect-protein company Innovafeed, led by CEO Clément Ray, is benefiting as Peru suspended anchovy catches, driving fish meal prices to record highs and boosting demand for black soldier fly larvae as fish feed. "In the last two months we have secured more demand than in the past two years," Ray said. Scientists declared El Niño's onset in June, with ocean temperatures at record highs. Indiana University climate scientist Christopher Callahan warns it could cause trillions in lost income, particularly in tropical economies, and persist into 2027.

The Panama Canal faces severe drought, with rainfall 34% below average. The canal authority reduced daily transits from 36 to 32, and auction prices for largest locks surged to $2.5 million from $800,000. Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez Morales said Panama has hired the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for upgrades and earmarked $2 billion to divert rivers.

In Chile, Antofagasta cut copper production forecasts after a freak storm dumped 5 million cubic meters of snow on its Los Pelambres mine in July. The atmospheric river caused rare flooding across Chile, highlighting El Niño's contradictory impacts of drought and deluge across continents.