Peruvian President Pedro Castillo announced a curfew for Tuesday in the capital Lima and neighboring port city Callao, after demonstrations across the country over fuel prices caused roadblocks and “acts of violence”.

Protests had erupted across Peru in recent days due to a hike in fuel prices and tolls, during a time of rising food prices.

According to the Czech publication iDnes, tire companies have warned dealers that they are running out of raw materials for production. In recent years, Russia has been Europe's main supplier of industrial carbon black, which is used as a filler in rubber compounds in the manufacture of automotive rubber. The share of the Russian Federation in the supply of carbon black reached about 35 percent - the owners of tire brands valued the component for its high quality and reasonable price.

The German Rubber Industry Association (WDK) has warned consumers of a drastic reduction in production. Moreover, the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, sanctions and counter-sanctions will affect not only the production of wheels. The entire rubber industry is under threat - in particular, the production of automotive hoses and seals. WDK General Director Boris Engelgardt believes that European capacities are not able to compensate for the loss of Russian imports, and logistics does not allow to quickly arrange soot supplies to Europe from other countries.

To understand the seriousness of the situation: soot filler is not at all a whim of automakers, or noir lovers. Soot accounts for a quarter of the mass of a tire. For a century and a half of the production of wheels for various "self-propelled carriages", it has been found that carbon black provides wear resistance and fire resistance of rubber, increases adhesion (traction), which directly affects the safety of the vehicle. The global demand for industrial carbon black far outstrips supply.

Since April 1, the price threshold for gas and electricity has been sharply raised in the UK - by 54 percent at once. The decision was made back in February, but it came into force only now, as the regulator updates the price threshold twice a year: for April-September and for October-March. Suppliers cannot exceed this figure.

Thus, the cost of the British on energy will increase by an average of 700 pounds per year and amount to about two thousand. Because of this, annual inflation in February reached a record high for 30 years in Britain - 6.2 percent.

A survey conducted by the National Statistical Service shows that the country's residents have to seriously reduce spending: more than half of respondents said they save on non-essential goods, 34 percent on gas or electricity, 31 percent on food and essential goods. need.

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.

While last year it cost about 25 pence to produce a cucumber in Britain, that has now doubled and is set to hit 70 pence when higher energy prices fully kick in, trade body British Growers says.

Regular sized cucumbers were selling for as little as 43 pence at Britain's biggest supermarket chains on Tuesday.

"Gas prices being so sky high, it's a worrying time," grower Tony Montalbano told Reuters, while standing in an empty glasshouse at Roydon in the Lea Valley where for 54 years three generations of his family have farmed cucumbers.

"All the years of us working hard to get to where we are, and then one year it could just all finish," he said.

Last year he paid 40-50 pence a therm for natural gas. Last week it was 2.25 pounds a therm, having briefly hit a record 8 pounds in the wake of Russia's invasion.

Fertiliser prices have tripled versus last year, while the cost of carbon dioxide - used both to aid growing and in packaging - and hard-to-attain labour have also shot up.

"We are now in an unprecedented situation where the cost increases have far outstripped a grower's ability to do anything about them," said Jack Ward, head of British Growers.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/cucumber-crisis-surging-energy-prices-leave-british-glasshouses-empty-2022-03-31/