Natural gas is a key ingredient in the process used to make nitrogen-based fertilizers used on a range of crops, including corn and wheat. Natural gas accounts for 75% to 90% of operating costs in the production of nitrogen, U.K. natural-gas futures have surged more than 340% so far in 2021, prompting the shutdown of fertilizer factories in the country and elsewhere earlier this year. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/fertilizer-prices-soaring-as-natural-gas-rally-adds-to-e2-80-98perfect-storm-e2-80-99/ar-AAPhgFi

Gazprom PJSC increased its 2021 price guidance for natural gas exports, while signaling caution on volumes it could ship, as Europe’s energy crisis worsens. The Russian gas giant, Europe’s biggest supplier of the fuel, reiterated that shoring up inventories at home was its top priority. Only after it has refilled its own storage facilities by the end of October, would the company look at potentially increasing exports to continental Europe, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-08/gazprom-eyes-higher-export-price-as-europe-energy-crisis-deepens

U.S. crude futures topped $80 a barrel for the first time since November 2014 as a global energy crisis boosts demand at a time when OPEC+ producers are keeping supplies tight. A weakening of the dollar on the back of worse-than-expected U.S. labor market data on Friday also boosted the appeal of commodities priced in the currency. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/oil-heading-seventh-weekly-gain-020241456.html

Lebanon has no electricity after the country’s two biggest power stations shut down due to a fuel shortage, a government. The power outage will continue for a few days. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/09/lebanon-hit-by-electricity-outage-expected-to-last-several-days

INDIA - A new challenge has arisen to threaten Delhiites as an issue of intermittent electricity cuts has started looming in the national capital due to a severe shortage of coal in the country. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his intervention in making adequate arrangements of coal and gas to generation plants supplying electricity to the city. https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/use-electricity-judiciously-difficult-days-ahead-for-delhiites-as-national-capital-to-face-power-cuts/ar-AAPj9vK

Industry insiders warn that winter blackouts across the US are possible as low fossil fuel stockpiles may lead to shortages amid heightened demand. The latest concern is ultra-low stockpiles of heating oil (distillate fuel oil). In the winter of 2019–2020, about 5.5 million households used heating oil as their primary heating source, and 81% of those households were in the Northeast. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports there are only 31.2 days of the demand for heating oil, the lowest levels since 2000. https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/us-heating-oil-supplies-lowest-decades-ahead-winter

Supermarket shelves across the UK were stripped bare today after Brits took to stockpiling essential goods as the supply crisis continues. Pictures from stores show empty meat, fruit and frozen food sections as shoppers raided what was left. Throngs of shoppers were spotted pushing trolleys stacked with toilet paper and bottles of water ahead of the festive season. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/16373968/supermarket-shelves-empty-stockpiling-essentials/

One of Uruguay’s top agricultural investors is stepping up its exposure to the sector, betting that a multiyear agricultural commodity uptrend will boost farm revenues and property prices. A financial trust sponsored by Agropecuaria del Litoral raised $100 million this week to buy farmland in the South American country, a major producer of beef, milk, rice and soybeans. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/south-american-fund-buys-more-150402598.html

The proposals for how these CBDCs might work should be enough to raise red flags in even the most trusting of minds. Most people wouldn’t like the idea of the government monitoring “all spending in real-time”, but that’s not the worst of it. By far the most dangerous idea is that any future digital currency should be “programmable”. Meaning the people issuing the money would have the power to control how it is spent. Agustin Carstens, head of Bank for International Settlements -"The key difference [with a CBDC] is that the central bank would have absolute control on the rules and regulations that will determine the use of that expression of central bank liability, and the have the technology to enforce that.” https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/war-cash-endgame-here

Consumers will have to get used to increasing food prices, Kraft Heinz CEO Miguel Patricio has warned. Patricio admitted that the world’s fifth-largest food and beverage company has been raising prices of such products as ketchup and baked beans “where necessary around the world.” Kraft Heinz has reportedly increased prices for more than half of its products in the US, the company’s home market, and expects to do the same elsewhere. https://www.rt.com/business/537163-heinz-boss-food-prices-high/

Aluminum jumped to the highest since 2008 as a deepening power crisis squeezes supplies of the energy-intensive metal that’s used in everything from beer cans to food packaging/preservation. https://www.mining.com/web/aluminum-price-hits-13-year-high-as-energy-surge-pressures-supply/

USA- Washington - By almost any conceivable measure, this summer’s lengthy and extreme drought led to historic lows in the production and quality of the region’s signature cash crop. Soft white wheat, the kind grown in this region and sought after by worldwide markets for its use in cakes, pastries and noodles, had its worst production year nationwide since the mid-1970s, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In Washington, the projected crop year production this year is 87.1 million bushels of both spring and winter wheat, the lowest total since 1964. https://www.union-bulletin.com/news/northwest/drought-conditions-cause-soft-white-wheat-production-in-washington-to-plummet-to-historic-lows/article_352e2a70-2ae4-11ec-af67-b70dc8d80145.html

Edward Snowden offered his perspective on the discussion of CBDCs. He describe this deflationary nature to be a threat to the savings of the “wage-worker,” forcing people to spend before their funds are reduced. He admits that the hypothetical fed-controlled CBDC and the ‘digital dollar’ are the same, with the latter being something of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. https://beincrypto.com/snowden-deflationary-fed-cbdc-annihilation-savings/

Argentina -Of the 55 million tonnes of corn expected by the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange to be harvested next season, 38.5 million have been sold, said the government source, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. "An order of priorities has been established over export declarations. Priority will be given to exporters who have corn purchased and cargo ships assigned," the ministry source said. "We have five months to go before the harvest starts and 38.5 million tonnes in exports declarations have already been registered," the source added. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/argentina-prioritizes-sales-of-harvested-corn-over-sales-of-next-crop-source-2021-10-12

Microsoft says this particular attack targeted one of its customers in Europe. And said it was 140% stronger than the previous-highest attack in 2020. The attack flooded the system with 2.4 terabytes of data every second. That's compared to the 1Tbps attack in late summer last year. A single terabyte is 1,000 gigabytes, which itself amounts to the equivalent of hundreds of 4K movies. Flooding a system with that amount of data every second is very hard to do. According to Microsoft, the attack lasted around ten minutes. https://www.the-sun.com/tech/3840958/microsoft-cyberattack-china-asia-ddos-attack/

U.S. prices for organic soybeans used to feed livestock and manufacture soy milk have surged to record highs as imports that make up most of the country’s supply have declined, triggering price increases for food including organically raised chicken. The costly soybeans and higher-priced organic products are fueling food inflation. The $56 billion U.S. organic food sector is also grappling with a shortage of shipping containers and a tight labor market as global food prices hit a 10-year high. https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/foodnews/analysis-e2-80-98it-e2-80-99s-a-madhouse-e2-80-99-organic-us-soy-prices-hit-record-fuel-food-inflation/ar-AAPn7G9

The U.K.’s largest container port is the latest port worldwide to experience the problems related to the surge in container shipping in 2021. Felixstowe, which handles more than a third of all containers in the U.K. was forced to briefly suspend the return of empties, and as the delays and congestion mounted major carriers including Maersk have begun to divert ships from the British port. Among the issues that have been causing problems at the port is a shortage of truck drivers to move the containers. https://maritime-executive.com/article/maersk-diverts-ships-and-containers-as-backlog-snarls-uk-ports

The African Swine Fever is now in Northern Hemisphere and that is making U.S. hog farmers nervous. The most likely introduction of that disease to our shore would come via people traffic and bringing pork products with them.” African Swine Fever is a highly contagious disease of domestic and wild pigs which can lead to economic and production losses. Transmission can occur through feed, but also from objects like shoes, clothes, vehicles, etc. https://www.marshallindependent.com/news/local-news/2021/10/hog-farmers-nervous-about-african-swine-fever-now-in-northern-hemisphere/

Iran needs to buy a record 8 million tonnes of wheat in the current season, Iranian industry sources said, after its domestic crop was hit by drought, while the jump in imports will coincide with high global grain prices adding to pressures on the country's finances. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/iran-buying-record-volume-of-wheat-after-worst-drought-in-50-years-sources-2021-10-13-0

The Bank of England's (BoE) fintech lead Tom Mutton has stressed that the bank was keeping an "open mind" on the rollout of a digital pound as it explores a central bank digital currency (CBDC), but that hasty implementation could lead to "bad outcomes". https://finance.yahoo.com/news/britcoin-cbdc-bank-of-england-digital-currency-tom-mutton-092114017.html

The IMF report warned that countries adopting bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as legal tender could hamper their central banks’ efforts to set monetary policy, cause liquidity risks and destabilize economies. Although the report doesn’t name El Salvador, the IMF has said repeatedly the Central American country’s Bitcoin Law poses “macroeconomic, financial and legal issues.” https://ca.news.yahoo.com/imf-report-views-cryptoization-threat-005402350.html