India - Indian farmers squeezed by a massive shortage of fertilizers are turning to the black market and paying exorbitant prices for supplies. The shortfall has led to a thriving market where subsidized crop nutrients are sold illegally at prices much higher than levels set by the government. Shady agents have been busy fielding requests from farmers who call them in desperate need. We either have to cut the use of fertilizers and risk lower production, or pay sky-high prices on the black market, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/indl-goods/svs/chem-/-fertilisers/black-market-for-fertilizers-is-booming-in-india-as-prices-soar/articleshow/87972990.cms

Spanish inflation hit its highest in nearly three decades in November as increases in food and fuel costs pushed consumer prices up 5.6% year-on-year, National Statistics Institute (INE) data showed. The rate accelerated from October's 5.4% to reach its highest level since September 1992's 5.8%. Inflation has been rising across the euro zone in recent months, with Spain particularly hard hit. Rising food costs were the main driver, followed by vehicle fuels and lubricants. https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2021-11-29/food-and-fuel-costs-drive-spanish-inflation-to-29-year-high

Singapore increased its gold reserves by about 20% earlier this year in a largely under-the-radar move the central bank says will ensure the resiliency of its portfolio. The purchases totaled about 26.3 tons https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-29/singapore-adds-to-its-gold-pile-for-the-first-time-in-decades

A fourth-generation dairy farmer warned that climate change-related regulations and a slew of economic woes could signal the end for her family’s way of life after nearly a century. “Instead of educating people through the farmer, we’re educating them through people that have never farmed and we’re killing off our family farmers.” Rising costs, labor and supply shortages and little support – in addition to climate change and conservation regulations – are all major obstacles threatening farmers. “They regulate us on every step we make,”. “We’re constantly looked at, constantly manipulated and told what to do, and farmers don’t want to be told how to farm.” https://paine.tv/fourth-generation-dairy-farmer-warns-economic-woes-climate-change-regulations-could-end-family-farms/

Indonesia is considering developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) as one way to counter the use of cryptocurrency in the country. An assistant governor of Bank Indonesia, said that a digital rupiah would address the effect crypto trading has on the financial system. Religious leaders in the country declared that Muslims are forbidden from using crypto earlier this month, owing to elements of uncertainty and wagering. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/indonesia-central-bank-wants-fight-091219014.html

Tech manufacturing giant Panasonic has confirmed that its network was accessed illegally this month during a cyberattack. The Japanese company said it determined that "some data on a file server had been accessed during the intrusion." Panasonic is currently working with a specialist third-party organization to investigate the leak and determine if the breach involved customers' personal information and/or sensitive information related to social infrastructure." https://www.zdnet.com/article/panasonic-confirms-cyberattack-and-data-breach/

Consumer prices across the 19 countries that use the euro currency are rising at a record rate as a result of a huge spike in energy costs this year. Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency, said the eurozone’s annual inflation rate hit 4.9% in November, the highest since recordkeeping began in 1997 and up from 4.1% in October, the previous high mark. https://apnews.com/article/business-europe-prices-inflation-consumer-prices-66c09717fe7f1ccba8a2943e3d23044b

The world's sugar supply balance is expected to deteriorate in the 2021/22 season that started in October due to higher use of sugarcane to ethanol production in India and lower production in Brazil. The season will see demand surpassing production for the third consecutive year, projecting a supply deficit of 1.8 million tonnes. https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/economy/story/global-sugar-supply-may-fall-on-indias-ethanol-production-boost-314012-2021-12-01

US- Los Angeles - Cybercriminals managed to compromise the LA Panned Parenthood network and engaged in stealing important files. The nature of the stolen files included personal information of the patients such as birth data, clinical information like diagnosis or procedure, address, and insurance data. https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/planned-parenthood-la-data-breach-due-to-ransomware-attack/

Alongside bad weather, global supply constraints have had a substantial impact on the coffee market. Uncertainty is also stemming from exporting countries such as Ethiopia, which is on the brink of a civil war, and Vietnam, which is seeing a rise in Covid-19 cases that could hit production. Meanwhile, the International Coffee Association's benchmark price of $2.07 per pound, up 85% from a year earlier. http://a.msn.com/00/en-us/AARk1AE?ocid=st

Japan's new political leadership is calling on the country's financial bureaucrats to ramp up efforts toward issuing a digital currency, pointing to China's far quicker progress as a potential challenge to the global economic order. The government has increased staff looking into legal and technical aspects of issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), which are digital forms of existing currencies. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/analysis-japan-keen-speed-digital-052453848.html

World food prices rose for a fourth straight month in November to remain at 10-year highs, led by strong demand for wheat and dairy products, the U.N. food agency said on Thursday. The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) food price index, which tracks international prices of the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 134.4 points last month compared with a revised 132.8 for October. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/world-food-prices-climb-november-090827861.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr

Singapore - Provisional Uniform Singapore Energy Price jumped S$4,499 ($3,293) per megawatt-hour, the highest on record or about a 1,290% jump in the last few days. All of the natgas is imported from neighboring countries. Singapore's electricity prices are likely to remain elevated as natgas demand continues to strengthen across Europe and the rest of Asia. https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/singapore-power-prices-spike-1290-energy-crisis-emerges

Australian wheat prices surged higher last week after torrential rain in NSW swamped wheat fields waiting to be harvested. ASX wheat futures surged $50 higher to $430 a tonne but lower quality values sunk. Many expect that more than half of the state's wheat harvest will be downgraded to general purpose quality or lower. It's a huge financial penalty for farmers. https://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/7533799/wheat-prices-surge-as-rain-swamps-nsw-crops/?cs=4785

Hackers used the controversial Pegasus spyware from the NSO group to breach nine US State Department employees' iPhones. It isn't known yet who is responsible, but this represents the most critical known cyberattack involving US officials and Pegasus. The spyware uses a zero-click exploit to access an iPhone's texts, photos, and videos to spy on a target. It can even turn on the phone's microphone. It works by sending a compromised message to the target through iMessage and doesn't require the victim to do anything to become infected. https://www.techspot.com/news/92501-pegasus-spyware-found-nine-us-diplomat-phones.html

India - Arabica Parchment coffee price soared to an all-time high of Rs 15,100 per 50-kg bag on Friday in Kodagu and Chickamagalur markets. According to vendors, this was the highest price ever for this coffee variety in 28 years. the heavy snowfall in Brazil, the largest coffee growing country in the world is the reason for soaring prices. It is said that snowfall damaged more than 10 percent of Arabica crop this year and it takes at least 3 to 4 years to recover from the loss.
https://www.thehansindia.com/karnataka/arabica-coffee-price-hits-all-time-high-of-rs-15100-per-50-kg-bag-718131

The number of container ships headed for the busiest U.S. port complex has risen to close to 100 under a new counting method, underscoring the magnitude of the economy-restraining logjam that the Biden administration is trying to help alleviate. New tally totaling 96 ships shows difficulty easing congestion The average ship wait time has risen to almost three weeks. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-04/u-s-ship-logjam-stretching-far-into-pacific-is-longer-than-ever

Moscow and Minsk could decide to be bound by a single currency in an effort to boost trade and strengthen ties between the two members of the so-called Union State, Belarus’ embattled leader, Alexander Lukashenko, has said. “There are no sorts of limits to any process. It sounds philosophical, but it’s true. No limits whatsoever.” https://www.rt.com/russia/541981-moscow-minsk-lukashenko-currency/

Bank Indonesia (BI) – the country’s central bank – noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, locals have switched from cash to digital payments. As such, a CBDC monitored and controlled by the authorities would be the best option for that monetary transition, the institution opined. Bank Indonesia now has another reason to issue a digital rupiah: to “fight” cryptocurrencies which cause a significant impact on the nation’s financial network. Juda Agung – an Assistant Governor at the bank – added that a CBDC is a more reliable option than bitcoin, ether, and the rest of the private digital assets: https://www.bitcoininsider.org/article/137846/bank-indonesia-aims-fight-bitcoin-its-cbdc-report

RUSSIA is discussing setting a quota for the wheat export season that runs from mid-February through June of 9 million tons, according to people familiar with the matter. Russia, one of the world’s biggest wheat exporters, has been taking steps to slow sales abroad to curb domestic food inflation. It’s also introduced a floating tax on grain exports, though the measures have had limited effects on total seasonal volumes. https://www.bworldonline.com/russia-considering-wheat-export-quota-of-9-million-tons/

Cyber-attacks are on the rise in Switzerland with 94 ransomware incidents reported in the first half of the year. The source of that figure is the network supporting investigations against digital crime (NEDIK) but the president of this network believes that the problem is much larger. While Swiss authorities strongly advise against paying hackers, 30 to 50% of hacked companies pay the requested ransom to recover their data. https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/ransomware-attacks-on-the-rise-in-switzerland/47164950