Australia’s Newcastle thermal coal, a global benchmark, is trading at $202 a metric ton, three times higher than at the end of 2019. Global production of coal, which generates around 40% of the world’s electricity, is about 5% below pre-pandemic levels.

In Europe, the rising prices for coal and other energy resources have hit factory output and driven household energy bills higher. Major coal importers in Asia, including Japan and South Korea, are jostling to secure supplies.

Highest price rise since the 1974 oil crisis: Wholesale prices in Germany climbed 13.2 percent in September. The drivers were metals and refined products.

The flywheel of inflation is accelerating in Germany. In September, wholesale selling prices in the country grew at the fastest pace in more than 47 years. According to the Federal Statistical Office, they were 13.2% higher than a year earlier. The most significant increase was last seen in June 1974, when prices jumped 13.3 during the first oil crisis.

These are considered to be an indicator of future inflationary trends, since wholesale trade is the link between manufacturers and end consumers. In August, the inflation rate in wholesale trade was 12.3%, and in July - 11.3%. It was already unusually high.

"The high growth in wholesale prices compared to September 2020 is due, on the one hand, to the currently sharply increased prices for many types of raw materials and intermediate goods," the statisticians write. "On the other hand, a low base effect comes into play as a result of the very low price level in previous months due to the pandemic."

A strong factor in the rise in prices, according to available data, was the rise in prices for ores, metals and intermediate metal products - by 62.8 percent. Petroleum products cost 42.3 percent more than a year ago. There was also a particularly strong jump in prices in the wholesale of scrap and residual materials (+ 84.6%), as well as round timber and processed timber (+ 54.6%). Grain, raw tobacco, seeds and animal feed also increased significantly (+23.9 percent).

According to the IEA's October winter fuels outlook (pdf), nearly half of U.S. households that warm their homes with mainly natural gas can expect to spend an average of 30% more on their "multi-year high" bills compared with last year. The agency added that bills would be 50% higher if the winter is 10% colder than average and 22% higher if the winter is 10% warmer than average.

The forecast rise in costs, according to the report, will result in an average natural-gas home-heating bill of $746 from Oct. 1 to March 31, compared with about $573 during the same period last year.

Consumers around the world are about to get socked with even higher prices on everyday items, companies from food giant Unilever Plc to lubricant maker WD-40 Co. warned this week as they grapple with supply difficulties.

The maker of Dove soap and Magnum ice-cream bars jacked up prices by more than 4% on average last quarter, the biggest jump since 2012, and signaled elevated pricing will continue into next year. A similar refrain came from Nestle SA, Procter & Gamble Co. and Danone SA, whose products dominate supermarket aisles and kitchen cupboards.

“We’re in for at least another 12 months of inflationary pressures,” Unilever CEO Alan Jope said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “We are in a once-in-two-decades inflationary environment.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-22/think-everything-s-expensive-now-wait-until-you-see-what-s-next

In Central Europe, "fuel tourism" is reviving: due to the sharp rise in gasoline prices in Germany, Germans are sent en masse to neighboring countries - Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic. A liter in Germany costs almost two euros. This is more than even the UK, which is experiencing a serious post-Brexit transport crisis.

The difference with neighbors can reach 50 euro cents - according to German drivers, this fully compensates for a longer journey to refuel abroad. At the same time, many people do not limit themselves to a full tank, but take canisters with them: forecasts for a rise in prices in the Federal Republic are disappointing.

Battery-grade lithium carbonate price has risen 440%. Lithium price has been on the rise since 2020, bringing production costs of EV batteries higher. Prices of battery cells and battery packs will rise by at least 30%.

Over the past twelve months, the cost of lithium carbonate in China has more than quadrupled, and the only thing that saves lithium batteries from a proportional rise in cost is that the specific content of this element in them is not so high.

Nickel sulphate prices in China increased by more than 30% over the same period, while cobalt hydroxide rose by more than 80%. The situation is exacerbated by planned power outages at factories in China, which have been undertaken by local authorities since the end of September. With the continuing dynamics of growth in prices for minerals, lithium batteries containing nickel, cobalt and manganese may rise in price by almost 10% worldwide next year, following China

Stock prices for wheat are breaking records. They have already surpassed a nine-year high, surpassing the $ 8 a bushel mark. And according to a number of experts, they may well rise to the level of 2008 - $9-12.

"The price of benchmark wheat on the Chicago stock exchange rose above $ 8 a bushel for the first time since December 2012," Prime said in a November 2 trading session.

Cars

The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to 66.8 in November – down sharply from the October reading of 71.7 and well below economists’ forecast for a reading of 72.4.

“Consumer sentiment fell in early November to its lowest level in a decade due to an escalating inflation rate and the growing belief among consumers that no effective policies have yet been developed to reduce the damage from surging inflation,” Richard Curtin, the survey’s chief economist, said in a statement.