SPRING WHEAT surged to $10 a bushel for the first time since 2012 as hot and dry crop conditions from North America’s prairies to Russia’s Urals leaves the world short on grain. Prices climbed for the sixth straight week, the longest run of gains in more than two years, as a global appetite grows for wheat of all types. https://www.bworldonline.com/wheat-hits-new-highs-as-world-appetite-grows-supply-shrinks/

WTI crude hit the psychologically important $85 per barrel mark earlier on Monday—the highest the U.S. crude benchmark has traded since October 2014. The skyrocketing crude prices are largely the result of gas-to-oil switching amid a natural gas crisis in Europe and Asia. According to a note to clients from Goldman Sachs, it sees global crude oil demand could see a million barrel per day bump as the price of natural gas booms. The bank estimates that global oil demand has already passed the 99 million bpd mark, and will return to 100 million bpd with Asia’s demand rebounding. https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/WTI-Crude-Hits-Highest-Level-In-7-Years.html

A former Marine who conducted cyber missions for the U.S. told CNBC on Monday the threat of a cyberattack on the U.S. chain supply keeps him awake at night. David Kennedy, also the founder of cybersecurity companies TrustedSec and Binary Defense, said successful attacks may embolden adversarial nations. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/ex-nsa-hacker-says-a-supply-chain-cyberattack-is-one-of-the-things-that-keeps-him-up-at-night/ar-AAPWqUv

Brazil - Consumer prices jumped 1.2% from the month prior, more than all estimates in a Bloomberg survey, the national statistics institute. It was the biggest increase for mid-October since 1995. Annual inflation accelerated to 10.34%. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/brazil-consumer-prices-blow-past-121203384.html

Iran - A cyberattack disrupted the sale of heavily subsidised gasoline in Iran, causing long lines at gas stations across the country weeks before the anniversary of 2019 street protests that followed fuel price hikes. https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2021-10-26/iran-says-cyberattack-causes-widespread-disruption-at-gas-stations

Among the regions hardest hit by drought this year is the western third of the U.S., extending across the northern plains and Canadian Prairies, says Dale Mohler, AccuWeather senior meteorologist. “At one point, areas from the northern Rockies to the Dakotas were 10 [to] 15 inches behind normal” in rainfall — and in the far western and southwest U.S., the drought has been long term — just over a decade. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/e2-80-98weather-extremes-appear-to-be-increasing-e2-80-99-drought-conditions-send-oats-wheat-and-other-commodities-soaring/ar-AAPQ9Cc?pfr=1

Starting on Nov. 1, the ports will charge shipping companies that fall into one of two categories: containers scheduled to move by truck and containers moving by rail. In the case of containers scheduled to move by truck, shipping companies will be charged for every container that stays in marine terminals for nine days or longer. For those moving by rail, shipping companies will be charged if the container stays for three days or more. https://www.theepochtimes.com/shipping-companies-at-ports-of-los-angeles-and-long-beach-will-soon-be-fined-for-staying-too-long-in-marine-terminals_4071146.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge

The European Union’s exports may top 11 million tons by the end of this month, according to Nathan Cordier, an analyst at consultant Agritel. That would be 25% more than a year earlier and the most for that time of the season in EU data going back two decades. The strong demand has helped push Paris milling-wheat futures toward a record high. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-26/the-world-is-gobbling-up-european-wheat-like-never-before

The auto industry has faced a global shortage of semiconductor chips since February. The chips are used in many car parts and, without them, production at many GM plants has either slowed or stopped completely, leaving dealers' new car lots bare. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/amid-a-computer-chip-and-car-parts-shortage-gm-third-quarter-profits-plummet-40-25/ar-AAQ1r9E?pfr=1

The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced the new members of the Market Advisory Group for the forthcoming digital euro project. It will include advising the Eurosystem on the design and distribution of a potential Eurozone’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) ‘from an industry perspective’ https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/ecb-appoints-30-members-for-the-digital-euro-market-advisory-group/

Hackers have stolen about $130 million worth of cryptocurrency assets from Cream Finance, by exploiting a bug in their flash loaning system to siphon away all Ethereum-based tokens on the platform. This is Cream Finance’s third hack this year alone. The decentralized finance (DeFi) platform allows users to loan and speculate on cryptocurrency price variations. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/another-crypto-marketplace-has-been-hit-by-a-major-cyberattack/ar-AAQ3zNe?pfr=1

European corn farmers are facing the prospect of having to leave crops in fields because of the energy crunch. The grain typically needs to be dried down after it’s collected to ensure the proper moisture content, a task that’s becoming more costly as gas prices surge. Most of the region’s harvest is collected through November. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-27/gas-suppliers-tell-french-corn-farmers-to-leave-crop-in-field

China has dramatically ramped up coal imports from Russia to compensate for shortages caused by the ongoing trade row with Australia, once the country’s biggest coal supplier. According to customs data, China’s coal imports surged 76% in September compared to the same period a year ago, and totaled 32.9 million tons. Much of the coal came from Russia and Indonesia. https://www.rt.com/business/538672-china-triples-coal-purchases-russia/?fbclid=IwAR3riDZD_FW9Z8wy34bDf-_U7BeOVR-Mm9J8zAEKYMS14RNahQt3QGOECJg

A jump in the number of people in China infected with bird flu this year is raising concern among experts, who say a previously circulating strain appears to have changed and may be more infectious to people.
China has reported 22 human infections with the H5N6 subtype of avian influenza in 2021 to the World Health Organization (WHO), compared with only five last year https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/china-reports-22-humans-infected-with-h5n6-avian-influenza-683363

Australia- Vegetable growers north of Adelaide are counting the cost after hail yesterday damaged glasshouses and ruined their crops. Hail hit Adelaide, the Barossa Valley and the northern Adelaide Hills. "We would anticipate it could be up to a 70 per cent loss; however, once a few days go by we'll be able to ascertain what can still be picked and sent to market https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-29/sa-vegetable-growers-count-cost-of-hailstorm/100579320

A cyberattack on Papua New Guinea’s finance ministry briefly disrupted government payments and operations, officials. Ransomware infiltrated and compromised a core server at the department of finance last week, hampering the government’s access to foreign aid, its ability to pay cheques and carry out other basic functions. https://www.samaa.tv/technology/2021/10/ransomware-attack-hits-papua-new-guineas-access-to-foreign-aid/

U.S. wheat futures edged higher Friday to linger near a near 9-high high as concerns about global supplies pushed the grain towards monthly gains of 7%. The fifth monthly gain and the biggest four-week rally since April. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/grains-wheat-lingers-near-2013-high-set-for-monthly-gain-of-7-2021-10-29

US- Top shipping officials this week said that a Biden administration-backed plan to issue emergency fees for containers lingering too long won’t work and will lead to chaos. Two days later, the officials who attended a meeting of the National Shippers Advisory Council (NSAC)—comprised of 12 importers and 12 exporters including Walmart, Amazon, and Home Depot—said the port fees are “crazy” and “catastrophic.” https://www.theepochtimes.com/shipping-companies-fear-catastrophic-supply-chain-fallout-over-new-california-port-fees_4074782.html

Iran’s subsidized fuel distribution system was partially restored Friday, though a majority of services remained grounded, three days after an unprecedented cyberattack by unknown perpetrators. Among 4,300 fuel stations across the country, “at present, 1,450 are connected to the central fuel distribution system. https://www.timesofisrael.com/most-iran-gas-stations-still-offline-three-days-after-cyberattack/

Fertilizer in Europe is poised to get even pricier, adding to concerns that bigger production costs for food could add to inflation. A gauge of western European prices for ammonia, used to make nitrogen fertilizer, surged to a 13-year high to $910 a metric ton. Europe has been hard hit by the natural gas crunch, which has forced a number of nitrogen-fertilizer plants to halt or curtail production. https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/european-fertilizer-prices-set-to-surge-amid-energy-squeeze

Banque de France is about to complete a 10-month central bank digital currency (CBDC) testing experiment for its government bond deals with over 500 participating institutions. During the experiment, the participants were made to trade some security tokens and government bonds was via a CBDC, which the French central bank supplied. https://www.econotimes.com/Stiglitz-urges-S-Korean-regulators-to-shut-down-cryptocurrencies-1620259