The head of Scottish Power has said Britain’s gas crisis will keep driving energy bills higher until 2023, and could leave only five or six of the strongest suppliers standing. The only energy companies able to survive a fresh £4bn blow to the energy supply market would include a small number of players backed by major multinational firms. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/oct/21/expect-18-more-months-of-rising-energy-bills-uk-householders-warned

US - Many food suppliers are planning for these hiccups and shortages to last. Food producers complain of supply-chain headaches of their own. Grocers warn of intermittent delays across product categories. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-19/food-shortages-crop-up-again-as-supply-chain-headaches-worsen

UK- Consumers should be hit with higher prices on meat to help the environment, says research paper drawn up for the Government according to suggestions for a tax on “high-carbon foods”. The suggestion was included in a document published by the Business Department’s Behavioural Insights Unit, before being removed from the Government’s website shortly afterwards. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/10/20/whitehall-considers-meat-tax-slash-carbon-emissions/

Industries from hospitality to haulage are facing double-digit inflation pressures as the supply-chain crisis in the country escalates. Wages, materials and freight costs are all soaring as companies grapple with shortages and a lack of workers, representatives from a range of businesses told a parliamentary committee on supply-chain issues. https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2021/10/21/uk-industries-from-food-to-trucking-warn-of-inflation-pressures

The time ships are stuck waiting offshore continues to lengthen. There are simply too many vessels arriving with too much cargo for terminals, trucks, trains and warehouses to handle. The number of ships at anchor or in holding patterns is once again at record levels. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/22b-worth-of-cargo-is-now-stuck-on-container-ships-off-california

Perfect example of government destroying free market competition. - More than a dozen power suppliers in the UK have exited the retail energy market in recent weeks. The UK has a so-called Energy Price Cap in place, which supposedly is to protect households from too high bills by capping the price that providers can pass on to them, but which additionally burdens energy providers. https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/UK-Energy-Suppliers-Face-Massacre-Amid-Soaring-Gas-Prices.html

Skyrocketing fertilizer prices could lead U.S. corn profits to drop by about a quarter next year, potentially motivating farmers to shift millions of acres into less cost-intensive soybeans. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-21/fertilizer-price-shock-threatens-to-slash-u-s-corn-profits

Robust demand for Australian wheat is quickly filling up shipping slots as importers book cargoes in advance from typically the world’s fourth-largest exporter ahead of what is expected to be a second year of near record output. The country’s ports are fully booked right up to the end of December for the crop which will be harvested from November onwards. https://www.reuters.com/article/australia-wheat-exports-idUSL4N2RH2N9

In poorer nations, where the public has low faith in the macroeconomic policy of the nation, people may choose to use the easy-to-use digital currency instead of relying on the local fiat currency.
“That means that that country no longer has monetary sovereignty,”. https://www.cnbctv18.com/economy/digital-dollar-may-threaten-monetary-sovereignty-of-poor-nations-says-former-rbi-guv-raghuram-rajan-11192962.htm

India has turned a major wheat supplier for countries in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region, mainly West Asia, as prices in the global market have surged near eight-year high. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/india-turns-major-wheat-supplier-in-south-west-asia-as-global-prices-soar/article37148638.ece

In the last three days, the Information Services company responsible for the system for issuing green certificates has reported one of the largest cyberattacks against Bulgaria. https://bnr.bg/en/post/101545853/bulgaria-s-green-certificate-system-under-huge-cyberattack

Israel has become the latest country to unveil plans to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC). While no country is yet to officially announce the use of a CBDC for transactions, great strides are being made to achieve this in the near future ans a possibility of them being developed on the Ethereum network. https://insidebitcoins.com/news/bank-of-israel-joins-the-race-for-cbdc-development

US - "They're going to drop all promotions, they're going to have their main products, and prices are going up," he says. "I see over 10% in the next 60 days." Gristedes Supermarkets CEO John Catsimatidis claims grocery stores are going to try to "get ahead of the curve" in order to keep food on the shelves and costs as low as possible. https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/grocery-prices-spike-10-rest-101507924.html

USA- A group of national security agencies have issued an advisory for the potential of ransomware cyberattacks against two U.S. food and agriculture organizations. While the release doesn’t identify the targets, the agencies say the attack could be through BlackMatter ransomware, a tool that developers can profit from cybercriminal affiliates who deploy it. https://brownfieldagnews.com/news/national-security-agencies-issue-cyber-threat-advisory-for-food-and-ag-sector/

Russia -The Ministry of Agriculture stated that the export duty on Russia’s wheat will be raised from USD61.3 to USD67 per ton on October 27. Duties on corn will also be increased to USD49.7 per ton. https://menafn.com/1103028921/Russia-to-increase-wheat-export-duty-once-more-in-coming-week

Palm oil, the world's most consumed vegetable oil, surged to a new record high, spreading concerns about persistent global food inflation. Malaysia's palm oil futures soared more than 40% this year, while soybean oil is up more than 50%. Prices of canola oil are also at a record. https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/edible-oil-prices-hit-record-high-food-inflation-treat-soars

Fitch Ratings showed that British consumer price index (CPI) will likely increase severely during the second half of this year because of rising worldwide energy and products values. CPI inflation will increase to 4.3 percent by the end of this year, rising from its last prediction of 3.4 percent in September. https://menafn.com/1103029696/UK-inflation-jumps-severely-within-increase-in-energy-products-values

UK - Tesco’s website and app have gone down due to a suspected hack. The outage, which left customers struggling to shop for groceries or track orders, began on Saturday morning and continued into Sunday. The supermarket giant said the problem was due to an attempt to “interfere” with its systems. https://www.independent.co.uk/business/tesco-website-attack-leaves-shoppers-unable-to-order-b1944337.html

Russian foreign exchange holdings grew by 0.8% over the week ending October 15, reaching $620.3 billion. The regulator says the country’s international reserves rose by $4.9 billion from October 8, as a result of positive revaluation as well as foreign currency purchases. The holdings of monetary gold increased by 0.14% last month to 73.9 million ounces (2,298.547 tons) as of October 1. https://www.rt.com/business/538086-russia-forex-reserves-growth/

A worldwide increase in wheat prices after bad harvests in Russia is forcing French bakers to raise the price of that staple of life in France - the baguette. Boulangeries around France have begun putting up signs warning their customers of an increase in the price of their favourite bread due to rising costs. https://www.thelocal.fr/20211025/baguette-prices-rise-in-france-after-poor-wheat-harvest/

Nigeria central bank digital currency (CBDC), the eNaira, has gone live after an official launch by President Muhammadu Buhari. “We have become the first country in Africa and one of the first in the world to introduce a digital currency to our citizens,” https://guardian.ng/news/nigeria-launches-enaira-digital-currency/