The London Metal Exchange said that trading in nickel will not be held today either, as "a sharp increase in quotations creates risks for the market of this metal".

Nickel trading has been closed for the second day. Although we are accustomed to the fact that the stock exchange does not work for two weeks, there are some oddities in the raw materials market as well. Tsingshan Holding Group received a margin call on its nickel position for more than $8 billion . It is a large steel corporation in China that has $42bn in revenue and $1.2bn in profits. The short squeeze was so monstrous, more than tripling in prices in a few days, that the big hedgers were wiped out. In order to prevent the bankruptcy of a bunch of broker-clearing agencies and the LME exchange itself, trading was stopped for 4 days until Friday. Margin requirements are being settled with the involvement of large banks in China and the United States.

“The combination of higher energy, transport and food prices will increase pressure on low-income households and increase the risk of poverty.” However, “since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the case for a rapid transition to clean energy has never been more compelling or clearer.”

It is one small issue - due to all metals and transport prices for the same amount of investments EU could only install from 15 to 25% of originally planned renewable sources. I am not even talking about increases.

The EU countries in 4-6 weeks will face a shortage of unrefined sunflower oil, caused by the forced stop of its export from Ukraine, which in turn will cause a shortage of refined and bottled oil for European households.

This is stated in the report of the European Association of Producers and Processors of Vegetable Oils and Fats FEDIOL.

“Available stocks in the EU will deplete in an estimated period of four to six weeks. After this period, it is likely that the lack of availability of unrefined sunflower oil and limited alternatives will lead to a shortage of refined/bottled sunflower oil in the European market, and that this shortage will spread to the level retail consumption," the report says.

According to FEDIOL, European oil extraction plants receive 35-45% of raw materials for the production of sunflower oil from Ukraine, the export of which is currently suspended due to hostilities. The organization stressed that it is impossible to replace Ukrainian raw materials in the industry in a short time. Other players in the global market are also facing a similar shortage of supplies.

“FEDIOL members are already foreseeing the problems and are doing everything possible to mitigate the negative impact on the food industry. They are already diverting limited amounts of sunflower oil destined for biodiesel production back to the food market. There is no immediate solution to this problem with sunflower oil,” it says. in the organisation's report.

According to her, it is not clear how and when the supply of raw materials from Ukraine will be able to resume. Depending on the European Union market, future sunflower oil shortages may be mitigated to some extent by alternative vegetable oils such as rapeseed, soybean or palm.

News from Italy:

• Paper mills shut down in Italy: packaging sector, toilet paper, medical paper, printing houses, recycling.
• Steel mills shut down.

“Half the world’s population gets food as a result of fertilisers… and if that’s removed from the field for some crops, [the yield] will drop by 50%,” Svein Tore Holsether, head of agri company Yara International, told the BBC.

Known as “the breadbasket of Europe,” Russia and Ukraine export around a quarter of the world’s wheat and half of its sunflower products, such as seeds and oil.

“For me, it’s not whether we are moving into a global food crisis – it’s how large the crisis will be,” said Holsether, noting that increasing gas prices were causing a steep rise in the cost of fertiliser.

The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that the EU does not intend to ban the import of Russian energy resources.

Biden bans US energy imports from Russia.

UK plan to also stop importing oil, but not now (had been asked to tell something by US, so produced this shit).

Russia has every right to make a "mirror" decision and impose an embargo on gas pumping through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which is loaded at the maximum level today, but such a decision has not yet been made, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

"Europe today consumes about 500 billion cubic meters of gas per year, 40% of this consumption is provided by Russia. For many decades, in spite of everything, Russia has always been a reliable partner. And today Gazprom is fully fulfilling its contractual obligations to supply gas to Europe" , he said.

Novak also noted that deliveries through the Ukrainian gas transmission system have been increased to 109 million cubic meters. m/s, which is equivalent to transit supplies to European consumers of about 40 billion cubic meters. m of gas per year. Deliveries are also made through Nord Stream 1, Yamal-Europe, Turkish Stream and Blue Stream, the Deputy Prime Minister recalled.

"At the same time, we understand that in connection with unfounded accusations against Russia regarding the energy crisis in Europe and the imposition of a ban on Nord Stream 2, we have every right to take a" mirror "decision and impose an embargo on gas pumping through the gas pipeline" Nord Stream 1, which today is loaded at the maximum level of 100%," he stressed.

"But so far we are not making this decision. No one will benefit from this. Although European politicians are pushing us to this with their statements and accusations against Russia," the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation noted.

We must also note that up to 40% of other energy imports are being made using money that EU got selling products (chemical and more) made from cheap Russian commodities :-)

It is real dead end now.

Nickel

The price of gas in Europe again broke the record - $ 2,500 per thousand cubic meters.

And this is only start.