Since the escalation of tension between Russia and Ukraine for a month, under the chain reaction of wars and economic sanctions, the changes in the situation in Russia and Ukraine have had an impact on the lives of various countries and many ordinary people.
These you may “can’t afford to climb”
Global food prices continue to rise and have climbed to multi-year highs. Russia is also the world‘s largest fertilizer producer, given that Russia and Ukraine account for about a quarter of global wheat exports. Analysts believe that if tensions persist or even intensify, they could trigger a global food supply crisis.
The price of wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade rose more than 70% this year, hitting a new high since March 2008. Corn and soybean futures are up about 30 percent and more than 25 percent, respectively, this year, hitting their highest levels since 2013 and 2012, respectively.
△ “Yahoo Finance” report screenshot
Nicole Berg, a fourth-generation farmer in south-central Washington, is feeling “very anxious.” Amid rising inflation and volatile commodity prices, the plan to grow a wheat crop is “like going to Las Vegas for a gamble,” she said.
△Nicole Berg’s family farm in Washington State
Before the Ukraine crisis, Berg and her family opted to grow more wheat on their 21,000-acre farm. Because the input cost of grain is lower than the input cost of the field corn, green beans and other agricultural products they grow.
But higher prices for fuel and fertilizers, amid rising inflation and tensions between Russia and Ukraine, are eating into her farm’s “measurable” profits — even as wheat futures hit record highs earlier this month. “Farms are going to benefit from[wheat price increases]not going out of business because my input costs have become very high, and fertilizer and fuel costs have doubled or tripled,” Berg said.
Also unable to laugh is Indonesia. Their favorite noodles may be out of stock…
Mohammad Nasir, an employee of the Indonesian mini market, has been busy answering questions for the past two weeks. Customers in Medan, North Sumatra all want to know the same thing: Why are there so few Indomie instant noodles on the shelves?
△Indomie instant noodles is one of the most popular snacks in Indonesia
One of Indonesia’s most popular foods, Indomie calls itself the “pioneer of instant noodles in Indonesia”, producing about 19 billion packets a year and selling them in over 100 countries and territories. But now a crisis in Ukraine, one of Indonesia’s top wheat suppliers, has raised concerns about the availability of the food made from wheat flour.
△CEBR said that the tension between Russia and Ukraine will reduce the standard of living of each household in the UK by 2,500 pounds
In addition, there are chicken in British supermarkets, flour and rice in Tunisia, electricity prices in Spain, jet fuel in Nigeria, gasoline in the United States… The speed of price increases for every familiar figure has made local people free from “supermarkets”. Freedom of travel” and even “freedom of existence” are getting farther and farther away.
These are discounted but you can’t buy them
Ecuadorian media reported on the 14th that banana farmers in the provinces of Guayas, Los Rios and El Oro put a large number of bananas on the streets that day, asking the government to allocate funds to buy the backlog of bananas.
Russia and Ukraine are big buyers of Ecuadorian bananas. In 2021, Ecuador will export a total of 6.8 million tons of bananas, of which 1.51 million tons will be sold to Russia, accounting for about 22%. Before the Ukraine crisis, Ecuador was exporting about 1.8 million boxes of bananas to Russia and about 180,000 to Ukraine each week, the country’s official responsible for coordinating banana exports said. 400,000 boxes of bananas were stranded within a week after Russia-Ukraine tensions escalated.
Local banana farmers have complained that not only have banana exports plummeted, but prices have also plummeted. Before the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the price of a box of bananas was between 3.5 and 6 US dollars. At this stage, the price has dropped to between 6 cents and 1.3 US dollars.
There are also fresh fruits and vegetables in Turkey that are also facing unsalable difficulties.
Antalya is Turkey’s largest exporter of fruits and vegetables, with half of its fresh fruits and vegetables sold to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. After the escalation of the situation in Russia and Ukraine, the situation in the region was tense, logistics and transportation were interrupted, and the export business was seriously affected. Up to now, the export value of local fruits and vegetables has dropped by half compared with the same period last year.
Seda, an Antalya smart greenhouse fruit and vegetable producer, said that the serious problem is that after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, the speed of customs clearance has become very slow. can reach the destination.
Who is “quietly popping champagne”
Soaring oil prices are bringing fortunes to U.S. shale and gas tycoons, who have even entered the world‘s 500 richest people for the first time.
△ Screenshot of Bloomberg report
Harold Hamm, 76, the co-founder of shale oil and gas giant Continental Resources, rose 28 places to 93rd in the Bloomberg Wealth Index and now controls $18.6 billion, according to Bloomberg. wealth. Earlier, Guy Laren, senior lecturer in international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, emphasized that Russia and the United States “have a decades-long history of competition in the European energy market.” “This crisis has directly affected the European energy market, and the United States has Shale companies are reaping the windfall.”
△ Screenshot of the Canadian “Real News” website report
Canada’s “Real News” website revealed that the Nord Stream 2 submarine gas pipeline project connecting Russia and Germany has been the subject of debate in the US Congress. Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, the No. 1 energy state, and some other members of Congress, who have invested heavily in oil and gas companies, are the most opposed to the pipeline. Now with the U.S. re-sanctioning the project, Cruz and others will further benefit from growing U.S. LNG exports to Europe.
According to media reports, U.S. LNG exporters have recently signed a large number of long-term agreements, becoming the beneficiary of the European energy supply crisis. Volodin, chairman of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament), said that the U.S. extended sanctions against Russia to an energy embargo to seize the European market, and European companies and people will pay for it.
△ Screenshot of data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), in 2021, the United States will become Europe’s largest LNG supplier, accounting for 26% of all EU LNG imports. This year continues that trend.
△Reuters: European arms imports surge amid tensions with Russia
Europe, which is deeply troubled by energy, not only bought a lot of American natural gas, but also spent a lot of money on American arms dealers. The severe deterioration in most European countries’ relations with Russia is an important driver of the growth of European arms imports, especially those countries that cannot meet demand through their own military industries, said Weisemann, a researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
△Franklin Spinney article screenshot
“Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, champagne has been quietly celebrated in the Pentagon (the U.S. Department of Defense), K Street (where Washington lobbying companies gather), the military industry, and the entire Capitol Building. And taxpayers will pay for this party for a long time. ” Franklin Spinney, a former military analyst at the Pentagon, wrote this vivid footnote in early March about the various practices of the U.S. military-industrial complex.