Factories from Germany to South Korea are absorbing blow after blow. Input costs have climbed at the fastest pace in years. Delivery times stretch longer. And demand, in many places, has gone quiet. The conflict centered on Iran, with its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and strikes on key Gulf infrastructure, has turned what began as an energy crisis into a broad manufacturing shock. Oil prices surged past $100 a barrel. Petrochemical feedstocks tightened. Aluminium, helium, and fertilizer supplies tightened further still. Companies responded with stockpiling in some regions. Others simply passed higher expenses downstream. But the cumulative pressure now shows in survey after survey. Global manufacturing feels the strain of war-driven shortages. Just last month European factories confronted the sharpest rise in raw-material costs in four years. The Investing.com report drawn from S&P Global data shows the euro zone manufacturing PMI slipped to 51.6 in May from 52.2 the prior month.…