Supply Chains

[alloneword]

More interesting TG chatter:

Food layout

To understand why Europe and some other regions of the world are facing a massive food crisis, you need to know a few things:

Ukraine is one of the largest exporters of agricultural products, providing a number of countries with food: it exported to the world market about 50% of sunflower oil during 2017-2021, 15% of corn, 15% of barley and 10% of wheat.

The sowing campaign of spring wheat usually begins at the end of March, sunflower - in mid-April, corn - in the second half of April. The first to start work are the southern regions, where active hostilities are taking place today. In total, as of March 15, hostilities covered 10 regions of Ukraine, which in total account for 54% of sunflower crops, 42% of corn, 52% of wheat.

A delay in sowing for 15-20 days can lead to a decrease in yield up to 35%. If the hostilities continue, the sowing campaign in a number of regions may not take place at all.

Going further, the Black Sea area, including Russia and Ukraine, provides 30% of world wheat exports, 20% of world corn exports and 76% of sunflower supplies. The Black Sea basin is, in fact, the granary of Europe, the most important region for the production of grain and agricultural products. But not only Europe will suffer, 40% of wheat supplies from the Black Sea region fall on the Middle East and Africa, where food has already become very expensive.

Prices for mineral fertilizers, which are energy intensive, have already skyrocketed since autumn 2021 due to extremely high European prices for natural gas, which costs up to 80% of production costs.

Significantly increased prices for ammonia used in the production of fertilizers, which was imported by Europe from Ukraine in significant volumes. This forced the world's largest producers of nitrogen fertilizers to raise prices and partially curtail production. Fertilizer prices are directly factored into the prices of future grain harvests and affect current food price quotations.

It is now clear that hostilities will definitely not end by the end of March, but most likely they will also capture April. The RF Armed Forces will move on, and more and more agricultural land will be at the epicenter. But even if we assume that some part of the land will be used and the sowing campaign will begin, we must understand two things: 1. Ukraine is experiencing a catastrophic shortage of fuel and lubricants, which even fetters the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the sowing campaign cannot be carried out without fuel and lubricants; 2. All supply chains are broken and blocked (the ports of Mariupol, Odessa and Nikolaev are incapacitated);

With crazy energy prices, shortages of fertilizers, grains and other crops, we are heading towards the biggest food crisis in 20 years. It is impossible to compensate for the deficit in the world market of Russian and Ukrainian grain, even in the perspective of two or three years. All these factors are pushing grain prices and the entire food complex up.

All will suffer from higher prices, but especially large developing countries with a significant proportion of the poor, especially in the Middle East and North Africa, where, due to the arid climate and limited arable land, there is no way to produce their own food in sufficient quantities.

Lebanon and Yemen are particularly vulnerable, with more than half of the population already starving in the latter. Egypt with a population of more than 105 million, Algeria (45 million), Tunisia (12 million) will face difficulties. Even the rich countries of the Gulf will face difficulties. Saudi Arabia, for example, imports large volumes of Russian and Ukrainian barley for animal feed. In the Asia-Pacific region, Pakistan (225 million), Indonesia (276 million), Bangladesh (166 million), which import significant volumes of wheat from Russia and Ukraine, will face difficulties. Even more economically developed and less dependent on post-Soviet wheat imports, Turkey will suffer.

Telegram channel: @togarma301

Also:

Russia from March 15 to June 30 may ban the export of wheat, rye, barley and corn.

- Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation

https://t.me/ArmenianVendetta/21168

[alloneword]

Not that anyone here needs telling this...

Russian President Vladimir Putin: “I want ordinary Western citizens to hear me. They are trying to convince you that your difficulties are the result of some hostile actions of the Russian Federation, that you have to pay from your wallet is a lie. The current difficulties that people in the West face are the actions of Western elite"

[drstrangelove]

Yes, but Putin is in on it. Inflation and supply chain issues were compounding by the month before this whole thing started to kick up dust in February. Western elites needed for something like this to happen to create a redundant dichotomy for pundits to disagree over. Central banks are in the process of covering their tracks, as who even cares, or remembers, anything about what happened prior to march 2020.

Western elites either back-channeled the Russians and told them now wouldn't be the worst time to invade Ukraine, or something happened that we don't already know about, which forced the hands of those in Russia behind the scenes. Because it would've been in Russia's best interest to just wait for Western economies to further collapse under their own weight.

Let's not forget that Western oligarchs created this relatively new class of Russian, I wouldn't even call them oligarchs, as they are more like plutocrats because their power isn't institutional it's commercial, back in the 1990s. Same with with Chinese princlings in the 1980s.

[Wombaticus Rex]

Highly recommended:

The World For Sale, Farchy & Blas. I have been reading their capable coverage of the commodity trading sector for years so I took the rare step of pre-ordering this puppy. It is incomplete, rough around the edges, and essential reading just the same. Part of that is simply because there are so few existing books on the subject, but the authors do cover most of the critical recent episodes and major players here. They were also fortunate to publish this just ahead of the dawning commodity supercycle that is about to reshape the world economy, so this will only get more timely with each passing month.

Highly related:

Russian Oil Trade Goes Dark, But Exports Continue

After three weeks of murkiness and confusion, Russian oil exports appear to have been disrupted less than previously thought, with global trading firms stepping in to pick up distressed cargoes.

Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine threw the oil market into chaos as buyers started to shun cargoes, amid concerns about sanctions and damage to their reputations.

Shipping data, canceled tenders and discussions with traders had all pointed to a major disruption in the early phase of the war.

Energy Intelligence initially estimated that Russia's oil exports had contracted by 2.5 million barrels per day — 1.5 million b/d of crude and 1 million b/d of refined products — a number that was later revised upwards to 3 million b/d.

However, as the dust starts to settle, it has become clear that the political and economic backlash against Russia has not triggered a sharp fall in its oil exports — at least for the time being.

Instead, the trade in Russian oil shipped from Baltic and Black Sea ports — totaling close to 2 million b/d — has increasingly gone "dark."

More cargoes are leaving those ports before a final buyer has been found for them. And in other cases, the identity of the buyer, the destination and the price has not been disclosed.

Combined exports of crude and products currently appear to be running at close to normal levels, with the Baltic ports at 1.55 million b/d and the Black Sea at 325,000 b/d. But much of this oil is going into storage rather than to a refinery buyer.

Huge Discounts

Traders are still talking about a big drop in export flows in the near future, based on a dearth of tanker fixtures for the coming weeks.

But it’s also possible that the recent trend could continue, with traders — rather than end-users — quietly snapping up cargoes at the last minute and few details emerging about such transactions.

Some Russian crude is still going as planned to refineries in Poland, Finland, France, Bulgaria or Croatia.

But most of it is going into commercial storage tanks — much of it in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. What happens to that oil afterwards is almost impossible to track.

Transferring cargoes into storage outside Russia is allowed under current sanctions, and this facilitates under-the-radar sales later.

Traders warehousing oil like this are under no pressure to resell it, because they have purchased it at such huge discounts they can hold it for months and still make money.

Recent spot offers for Russia's Urals crude have involved discounts of up to $30 per barrel versus benchmark dated Brent, compared with normal pre-war levels of around $2.

The current practices are still creating some shortages, and some refiners are still scrambling to find replacements for Russian oil, exacerbating recent tightness in the market and bidding up prices for alternative spot grades.

Urals cargoes "are sailing out of the Baltics but I am convinced many are unsold," said one trader.

"After the Shell debacle, no one wants the bad press," another trader noted — a reference to publicity around Shell's purchase of a cargo of Urals that prompted the company to pledge it would stop buying spot cargoes and phase out contracted purchases of Russian crude.

“There is nothing illegal with this, but the world is judging any public deals,” the trader added.

Private and Confidential

All transactions involving Russian crude are now "private and confidential" — a term used by oil traders to refer to sensitive deals.

Traders say exports of refined products from Russia have also held up well during the first weeks of the war, but this market is even harder to track.

Illustrating the current lack of transparency, there are just two known tanker fixtures for Russian crude exports in the Baltics after Mar. 15.

Research firm Kpler said in a note that "forward-looking data suggests that crude oil imports from Russia should start to slow down over the course of this week, giving real substance to the market talk of self-sanctioning behavior."

The number of Russian crude cargoes offered in the Platts trading window, a key pricing platform, has also slowed to a trickle.

On Monday trader Glencore was offering a single Urals cargo loading in the Baltic ports of Primorsk/Ust-Luga on Mar. 29-Apr. 2 at a discount of $30.15/bbl to dated Brent. But there were no takers.

It's likely that ships are being lined up for spot cargoes on the quiet, avoiding the relative transparency of a fixture arranged through a shipbroker.

Traders can also use time-charter vessels that they can direct to Russia or vessels from their own fleets, both of which have less public visibility.

Sellers like Surgutneftegas — whose normally popular tenders drew no bids earlier this month — are thought to be selling oil directly to trading houses.

The trade could still become even more obscure. "I think we'll start seeing STS [ship-to-ship transfers] soon, like offshore Malaysia, because the discounts are so big now that you can justify it," said one trader.

Ship-to-ship transfers have been used over the last few years to disguise the true origin of Iranian crude, which is subject to US sanctions.

"Soon, I think, ships will start turning off transponders," the trader added, referring to the automated signals that show a vessel's location — often with additional information such as the destination and the type of cargo.

Traders Step Up Activity

Kpler data shows that since early March, international traders like Trafigura, Gunvor and Vitol — all of which have long-standing business ties to Russia — have stepped up their activity, taking over as other lifters of Russian crude have dropped out.

French major TotalEnergies chartered six vessels to pick up crude in the first half of March, mostly for storage in Rotterdam but with one going to its refinery in Le Havre.

In the first two weeks of March, loadings from Russia's Baltic ports showed one cargo going to Porvoo in Finland, one to Omisalj in Croatia, and two to Gdansk in Poland.

Three cargoes from the Black Sea went went to India, one to Constanta, Romania, and one to Burgas, Bulgaria.

Norway's Equinor said this week that it would stop trading Russian oil, but would still take delivery of four cargoes this month because of prior contractual commitments.

Two of the Equinor cargoes were resold to Asian buyers, a third was to be delivered into storage, and a fourth was bound for the company's Mongstad refinery.

As well as Rotterdam, cargoes from Russia's Baltic and Black Sea ports were being sent into storage in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, and Trieste, Italy.

Tank farms in these areas have pipeline connections to refineries run by major oil companies.

Exports of Russian crude to Europe via the Druzhba pipeline system in March are estimated to have run about 200,000 b/d lower than average, at 750,000 b/d.

Flows to Asia are running at somewhat higher levels, with exports from the port of Kozmino at the end of the Espo pipeline running at 755,000 b/d in the first half of March — about 50,000 b/d higher than in February,

Russia's pipeline to China is running at regular volumes close to 700,000 b/d.

There were also huge shadow pool swings in SWFs unloading US assets to buy dirt cheap Russian assets, if I find a good primer I'll post it in ... uh, shit, it's all the same thread in 2022 ... market crash watch party? Yeah, that's the ticket. Damage to the petrodollar / exorbitant privilege machine is vast, insane and under the radar for now.

It is impossible to effectively sanction fire sale bargains.

[Joe Hillshoist]

"Soon, I think, ships will start turning off transponders," the trader added, referring to the automated signals that show a vessel's location — often with additional information such as the destination and the type of cargo.

Wow. There is now potential to pirate oil on the high seas.

Wish i was 20 years younger.

[drstrangelove]

Fertilizer Prices Surge as Ukraine War Cuts Supply, Leaving Farmers Shocked
In his nine years selling fertilizer to corn and rice farmers in West Africa, Malick Niang says he has never seen such a severe supply crunch—or such high prices.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, shipping companies have avoided docking at St. Petersburg, Russia, to collect goods, Mr. Niang said. That, together with the impact of the West’s financial sanctions against Moscow, means fertilizer exports from Russia—the world’s largest producer—have fallen sharply. Mr. Niang contacted sellers elsewhere, such as in Senegal and Morocco, but was told their order books are full until the end of the year.

“Maybe we will find one or two options different from Russia, but it’s going to be very expensive,” he said.

Fertilizer prices were already high before the war. They have now reached record levels amid a precipitous drop in Russian supply, according to CRU Group, which analyzes commodity markets. At the same time, more-expensive natural gas, another Russian export and a crucial ingredient in fertilizer-making, has led European fertilizer factories to scale back production.

The result is that fertilizer is about three to four times costlier now than in 2020, with far-reaching consequences for farmer incomes, agricultural yields and food prices.

In Indonesia’s East Java province, corn farmer Nurhadi, who goes by one name, has bought half his usual fertilizer stock, relying instead on animal dung, which isn’t as effective and will result, he said, in a substantially reduced yield. In Colombia, which depends on Russia for one-fifth of its fertilizer imports, potato farmer Ana Elvira Sanabria has switched to raising cattle and growing a local fruit called uchuva, which needs less fertilizer.

“Last year at this time, most of us had land ready to plant,” she said. “This year much of it is fallow.”

Farmers’ struggles began before the war. Higher energy costs last year pushed up fertilizer prices, as did new curbs and export-licensing requirements by China, Turkey, Egypt and Russia. Faustin Lohouri Bi Tra, a farmer who grows seeds for other planters in Ivory Coast, said he watched with horror as the price of urea fertilizer quadrupled over the past nine months. “It’s like a scary movie,” he said.

Smaller harvests will hit developing countries the hardest, forcing their cash-strapped governments to import large quantities of staples such as wheat at high prices, agricultural experts say. Global food prices in February touched their highest point since the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization began collecting monthly data three decades ago.

Food insecurity is likely to worsen. The Global Network Against Food Crises, an alliance of humanitarian and development groups, estimates that by last September, 161 million people across 42 nations in 2021 faced acute malnutrition or were forced to sell assets or take other desperate measures to procure food—up 19% from the start of the year.

“I am deeply concerned that the violent conflict in Ukraine, already a catastrophe for those directly involved, will also be a tragedy for the world’s poorest people living in rural areas who cannot absorb the price hikes of staple foods and farming inputs that will result from disruptions to global trade,” said Gilbert Houngbo, president of the U.N.’s International Fund for Agricultural Development, last week.

The disruption in wheat supply from Ukraine could have been a boon for some of the world’s major food exporters, among them Argentina, and farmers such as Gabriel Pellizzon. Instead, Mr. Pellizzon, who grows wheat, corn and soybeans on about 3,700 acres in Argentina’s central Córdoba province, said he is likely to slash production about 30%. Omar Bachetta, a farmer in the country’s Santa Fe province, said he is cutting back on fertilizer. Urea now costs $1,400 a ton, up from $800 last year and $500 the year before, Mr. Bachetta said the farmer.

“The reduction in the sowing of wheat is going to be considerable this year,” he said.

Fertilizer producers are warning of continuing shortages. After Russia’s invasion sent European natural-gas prices to record levels, many companies reduced production of ammonium, which is used to make nitrogen fertilizers. Although prices of European natural-gas futures have fallen since early March, they remain roughly 40% higher than they were before the invasion of Ukraine.

Borealis AG, a large European fertilizer maker, said this month it is running its ammonium plants at reduced capacity. Nitrogénművek Zrt., a Hungarian producer, said it is temporarily halting ammonium production. Norway-based Yara International, one of the world’s largest fertilizer producers, said in early March that it would limit production at plants in France and Italy, bringing down its European ammonium and urea production to around 45% of capacity.

“Our concern over the coming season is that nations already in a vulnerable position will face deteriorating conditions, in particular if dependent on net imports of both food and fertilizers,” said Yara spokeswoman Kristin Nordal.

Even if natural gas were to become less costly, rebooting ammonium plants is expensive, said Tony Will, chief executive and president of CF Industries Holdings Inc., a nitrogen-fertilizer manufacturer based in Deerfield, Ill. The company has kept one of its U.K. plants shut since September.

“We need to have a window that looks like we can operate it for at least three to six months profitably. Otherwise, it’s really hard to begin the startup process,” Mr. Will said. “We don’t see the window as a likelihood at the moment.”

- https://www.wsj.com/articles/fertilizer ... 1648114381

And so we shift from an economy of desires into an economy of needs. How many calories can you get from an NFT? What are crop yields like in the metaverse? Can you a boil your Nike shoe collection and eat it, or did they start using composite leather? I'll swap you a charizard for that loaf of bread?

[drstrangelove]

Biden Says to Expect ‘Real’ Food Shortages Due to Ukraine War

President Joe Biden said that the world will experience food shortages as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and production increases were a subject of discussions at a Group of Seven meeting on Thursday.

“It’s going to be real,” Biden said at a news conference in Brussels. “The price of the sanctions is not just imposed upon Russia. It’s imposed upon an awful lot of countries as well, including European countries and our country as well.”

- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... kraine-war

This means you should get vaccinated.

[alloneword]

They're actually going to get away with this, aren't they?

They're going to get away with blaming this calculated catastrophic enshittening on 'Russia', throwing Europe under the bus and the mewling fucktards will just let them get away with it - cheering them on whilst waving little blue and yellow flags.

Gazprom will in the coming days determine the aspects of switching to payment for Russian gas in rubles

https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stori ... e_id=83011

Because, well, why shouldn't they? Why would they otherwise, since it's otherwise subject to outright theft. Poland seems to be refusing, as is France, Germany and others.

Ah... here it is:

[T]he U.S. will work to supply 15 billion cubic metres of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the European Union this year to help it wean off Russian energy supplies.

The EU is aiming to cut its dependency on Russian gas by two-thirds this year and end all Russian fossil fuel imports by 2027 due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russia supplies around 40% of Europe's gas needs.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/france-s-m ... -1.5835264

Fucking clowns. That's less than a tenth of the imports from Russia and besides, the infrastructure doesn't exist. We're also at the end of the 'heating season' in Europe, so the 100 billion or so cubic meters of storage (what we use over the winter months) is currently reading near 'empty'... Now is when we start refilling it (which can only be done at a rate defined by the infrastructure).

It's almost a dumb as their '10-point plan', which displays either a toddler-level lack of understanding or simply a level of malice and indifference to the population of Europe we'd previously thought reserved for the poor in the US.

Putin's a cunt, alright, but he's their cunt, and a pretty smart one at that. What with the Saudi's indications on the matter, could we just be seeing the final act (at last) in the death of the petrodollar hegemony?

[alloneword]

On that note...

In response to Putin's ultimatum, the European Commission raises rates - it proposed to introduce common gas purchases by the European Union. Officially, the intention is that the EU, as a major buyer, will be able to negotiate a lower price. This will help avoid competition between different EU countries for the same volumes of gas, which will result in more expensive supplies.

In fact, in this case, the United States and European bureaucrats, consisting entirely of Soros, are planning to deprive the EU states of another part of their sovereignty. This is done in order to set a common price for blue fuel for all countries and prevent better conditions for deliveries, Russia's allies: Hungary, Serbia, Austria.

The second goal is to clear the field in the EU gas market for multinational corporations from the USA with the help of political procurement criteria.

The next move is for Gazprom. If he agrees to centralized supplies and starts supplying gas centrally to the European Commission for the euro and the dollar, then the EU will be able to achieve its goal.undefined the goal of a smooth and painless ousting of Gazprom from the market.

If Putin insists on paying exclusively in rubles and under existing contracts with different countries, then this will lead to a halt in supplies not for any individual country, but for the entire European Union.

Deprived of gas, European countries will face a choice of a different order - to stop the economy, depriving it of energy carriers or to leave the EU.

The stakes are rising...

https://t.me/ZeRada1/8102

[alloneword]

ROYDON, England, March 31 (Reuters) - In a small corner of south-east England, vast glasshouses stand empty, the soaring cost of energy preventing their owner from using heat to grow cucumbers for the British market.

Elsewhere in the country growers have also failed to plant peppers, aubergines and tomatoes after a surge in natural gas prices late last year was exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, making the crops economically unviable.

The hit to UK farms, which need gas to counter the country's inclement weather, is one of the myriad ways the energy crisis and invasion have hit food supplies around the world, with global grain production and edible oils also under threat.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 022-03-31/

This aged well:

https://vimeo.com/19400250

Ba-doom-tish.

[MacCruiskeen]

^^ How much arable land lies unused under suburban lawns? (And roads, car parks, public squares, parks, etc., etc.)


https://1e9.community/uploads/db1440/original/2X/a/ac9ed1e5352882562b5703ea09c4c38b2013a70f.jpeg
Berlin, 1947: The people were hungry, sometime starving. Vegetables were planted and harvested in the Tiergarten, the central public park. (Brandenburg Gate in the background.)

[alloneword]

I'm trying to think of an example of what might happen should a country suddenly find themselves cut off from a regular supply of Russian hydrocarbons...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeM5emtaVC0

[MacCruiskeen]

"He who does not feed you can demand nothing of you." - Thomas Sankara (born 1949, died 1987.)

[drstrangelove]

U.S., EU to Impose More Sanctions on Russia After War-Crimes Reports
The U.S. and the EU are set to unveil new sanctions on Russia this week, after allegations from Ukraine of potential war crimes against civilians by Russian forces galvanized a push for tougher measures against the Kremlin.

On Tuesday, the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, proposed broad new sanctions on Russia, European officials said, including a ban on imports of Russian coal, slashing the access of Russian road and shipping goods carriers into the bloc, targeting oligarchs and their families and blocking some machinery exports.

The measures will need backing from the bloc’s 27 member states. Meanwhile, the U.S. plans Wednesday to announce a new package of sanctions that would include a ban on all new investment in Russia, according to people familiar with the matter.

The sanctions will also include additional measures hitting Russian financial institutions and state-owned enterprises, and Russian government officials and their families, the people said.

The proposed ban on Russian coal, confirmed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, would be the first time the EU has agreed to block imports of one of Russia’s main energy supplies. EU capitals remain divided on whether to impose a ban on Russian oil and gas imports, although the momentum behind introducing a phased-in embargo of Russian oil supplies is gathering.

The EU proposals also include a complete ban on transactions with several additional Russian banks, three of which have already been removed from the SWIFT financial transactions network, including VTB, Russia’s second biggest lender, the officials said.

In Washington, the Biden administration is considering tightening sanctions against Russian financial institutions already subject to measures restricting some of their foreign transactions, the people said. Among the banks being considered for further sanctions is Sberbank, Russia’s largest. The U.S. has already imposed so-called blocking sanctions against VTB and its subsidiaries, which prohibit transactions by U.S. banks and firms and freeze any assets they have within U.S. jurisdiction.

Last week, diplomats indicated many EU member states wanted to focus on consolidating and reinforcing the sanctions measures they had already taken. But the sentiment in capitals shifted rapidly over the weekend. On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron joined public calls for a ban on Russian coal and oil imports for the first time.

Officials are confident most measures can win approval by avoiding the more controversial oil and gas restrictions. German officials have been among those questioning the efficiency of keeping Russian ships out of the bloc—a measure that has already been taken by the U.K.

The proposed ban on Russian road freight carriers would also affect Belarusian carriers, as well as Russian vessels and Russian-operated vessels. There will be exemptions for humanitarian-linked trade such as food and medicine and for energy.

The EU will also place a quota cap on the import of potash, officials said. The material is used for fertilizer and is widely purchased from Belarus. The sanctions package is also planned to ban a range of other Russian and Belarus imports, including wood, cement, seafood and liquor, worth €5.5 billion, equivalent to about $6.5 billion, according to the European Commission.

The Commission said it would also blacklist dozens of additional Russian oligarchs, politicians and senior officials and will sanction some prominent family members. The current list includes two of Mr. Putin’s daughters, according to officials. The bloc has already sanctioned the son-in-law of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Mr. Putin doesn’t speak publicly about his family. He has two daughters from a former wife, according to the Kremlin. It isn’t known if Mr. Putin has other children, and it couldn’t be learned if the daughters being targeted in the new EU sanctions were those he has publicly acknowledged. The couple said in 2013 their marriage was over.

The bloc will also stop the export of some high-tech machinery to Russia, including quantum computers and advanced semiconductors as well as sensitive electrical and transport equipment worth around €10 billion in annual exports, Ms. von der Leyen said.

“Russia is waging a cruel and ruthless war, not only against Ukraine’s brave troops, but also against its civilian population,” she said. “It is important to sustain utmost pressure on Putin and the Russian government at this critical point.”

But Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis on Tuesday evening criticized the EU’s proposed sanctions package, calling it a “feeble response” which is “an invitation for more atrocities.”

“Coal, four banks...a ban on ports and borders (with exceptions) is not really an adequate sanctions package to the massacres that are being uncovered,” he said on Twitter.

If the latest measures are adopted, attention will likely swiftly return to how to reduce oil imports from Russia. Germany has said it could end imports by the end of the year, but there is pressure to move more quickly. For now, the chances of agreeing to a stop to Russian gas imports appear very slim, diplomats said.

Ms. von der Leyen said among the ideas that have been proposed by member states is a tax or tariff on Russian oil imports to increase their price and reduce demand. Also floated was the idea of paying Russia only into special escrow accounts, from which Russia wouldn’t be able to easily use the revenue, she said.

On Tuesday, U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Britain would push North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Group of Seven partners to agree on a timetable for eliminating Russian energy imports.

That kind of solution could offer the likes of Germany, Hungary and Slovakia time to reduce their imports of Russian gas and oil but still demonstrate to the Kremlin that its energy revenue from Europe will shrink sharply in the months ahead. Germany has already said it could stop buying Russian oil by the end of the year although it has said it would need some Russian gas imports through 2024.

Also Tuesday, Spain and Italy became the latest EU countries to kick out Russian officials in a bid, European officials say, to disrupt Russian intelligence and spying networks in the bloc. The EU also said it was asking some Russian officials to leave.

Italy said it would kick out 30 Russian officials and Spain, around 25. The European Union also said it was ordering 19 staff out of Russia’s Brussels mission, where it has around 60 diplomats.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, more than 200 Russian diplomats have now been ordered to leave.

- https://www.wsj.com/articles/europe-to- ... 1649152947

This was alluded to about a week ago when the NYT launched into another one of its renowned satellite investigations, best known for 'verifying' the sarin gas attacks in Syria, which rivaled NIST for the grand pulitzer in hard hitting computer generated journalism. Not that I have a view either way in this instance, as no military is above war crimes, and as of late I've tried to avoid falling into the trap of assuming the truth is inverse to whatever western interests claim. But of course, either way, the end result is human sacrifice, not for harvest, but for sanctions. They giveth them their first born children and in return the gods sow their lands with salt.

[drstrangelove]

Gaining little attention right now:

China food security: farmers in Jilin leave fields fallow as lockdown threatens corn supply


Food security concerns are mounting in China as lockdowns show no signs of easing in the major corn-growing province of Jilin ahead of spring ploughing.

In some parts of the province like Lishu county, an important corn production area that President Xi Jinping inspected last year, crop-straws from the previous harvest litter the ground because farmers have not been allowed to leave their houses.

“There are crop-straws all over the fields now,” said Dong, whose family farms two hectares (5 acres) of corn fields in Lishu. “It is impossible to plant the seeds.”

Dong, who gave only his surname, said farmers would normally be stubble-cleaning, ridging and fertilising to prepare for seeding at the beginning of May.

“Now no one is allowed to go out,” he said. “And the agricultural stores have no seeds and fertilisers. Even if they have, farmers can’t go out to buy.”

- https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-econ ... lds-fallow

Remember, China never went into prolonged lockdowns like the West. They went hard in the early months of 2020, but they never experienced the same pandemic we did in the West. Which means it could be China's turn.