Israel will face a shortage of millions of eggs due to the outbreak of pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza. There would be a 14 million egg shortage per month, out of the 200 million eggs consumed in Israel each month. To address the issue, Israeli Agriculture Minister Oded Forer decided to open the Israeli market to duty-free imports of 70 million to 100 million eggs immediately. https://insiderpaper.com/israel-sees-egg-shortage-amid-bird-flu-spreading-in-hen-coops/

The System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), the Russian equivalent of SWIFT, has over 400 member banks across former Soviet republics, handling more than 20 percent of domestic transactions. China has also been developing a SWIFT alternative, called the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), which it had hoped would help internationalize the yuan. CIPS may be another possibility for Russia. Due to China’s greater economic importance, the yuan may be a more viable option than the ruble for cross-border trade. Another possibility for Russia is the digital ruble, which is meant to be launched in 2022. https://www.theepochtimes.com/banning-russia-from-swift-would-drive-it-closer-to-russia_4173703.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge

Less than 20% of the world's population has managed to stockpile more than half of the globe's maize and other grains, leading to steep price increases across the planet and dropping more countries into famine. The hoarding is taking place in China. China is maintaining its food stockpiles at a "historically high level,". China is expected to have 69% of the globe's maize reserves in the first half of crop year 2022, 60% of its rice and 51% of its wheat. Related articles in the comments below. https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Datawatch/China-hoards-over-half-the-world-s-grain-pushing-up-global-prices

US- T-Mobile suffers 2nd cyberattack. Customers either fell victim to a SIM swapping attack (which could allow someone to bypass SMS-powered two-factor authentication), had personal plan information exposed, or both. The document shows that the customer proprietary network information that was viewed could’ve included customers’ billing account name, phone and account number, and info about their plan, including how many lines were attached to their account. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/another-t-mobile-cyberattack-reportedly-exposed-customer-info-and-sims/ar-AASdIEq

Poor winter weather conditions combined with already-low global inventories could send prices for wheat higher by up to 19%. War in Eastern Europe could catapult them further. “Europe, Ukraine, and the U.S. face some very unfavorable weather that will really set off a supply shortage concern,”. Hackett sees prices rallying to between $9.50 and $10 a bushel, or as much as 19% above recent levels. That’s his outlook without a military conflict. https://www.barrons.com/articles/bad-winter-weather-could-send-wheat-prices-higher-51640768401

It's not only the weather and potential military conflict between 2 major wheat exporters (Russia/Ukraine) but fertilizer shortages with high prices working towards higher prices for all crops using fertilizer. It has already begun in South Asia, for example in Nepal. See article. Reports of the same are coming from India/Pakistan. Additional info posted in the comments. https://english.makalukhabar.com/2021/12/37054/

UK - 30,000 pigs have now been culled on farms across the country as farmers take desperate measures as critical worker shortages in processing plants continue to bite. The sector's crisis is a result of slaughterhouse and butchery worker shortages. "It's time the pain was felt by all, and all actors within the supply chain take some responsibility or there will be no independent pig farmers left in this country,". https://www.farminguk.com/news/30-000-pigs-culled-on-farms-as-backlog-remains-dire-_59533.html

Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, has introduced what it said is the country’s first exchange-traded fund (ETF) to provide exposure to companies involved in the blockchain industry. It aims to track the Sber Blockchain Economy Index, giving investors exposure to crypto trading firms including Coinbase, Galaxy Digital and blockchain software provider Digindex. The index also includes crypto asset and mining companies and firms providing consulting services in the blockchain industry. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/russia-largest-bank-introduces-first-122002322.html

Norwegian media company Amedia was hit by a cyberattack that forced it to shut down several systems. The attack prevents the company from printing its regular newspaper, and the press will be shut down until the problem is resolved. The attack against Amedia is the third major cyberattack that has happened against Norwegian companies recently. https://techstory.in/media-company-amedia-is-hit-by-a-cyberattack/

Spain’s inflation rate hit 6.7% in December, the highest annual increase since March 1992. December’s inflation is 1.2 percentage points above the 5.5% registered in November, advanced figures published by Spain’s National Statistics Agency (INE) showed. Sky-high energy prices are the main cause of Spain’s soaring inflation rate. In November, inflation across the eurozone reached 4.9% – the highest since recordkeeping started in 1997, two years before the euro was introduced. More related articles in the comment section below. https://turkishpress.com/soaring-energy-prices-push-spains-inflation-to-highest-in-nearly-3-decades/

France risks falling short of electricity in the event of a cold snap and low wind next month as an abnormally high number of the country’s nuclear reactors halt for maintenance, the country’s grid operator said. Soaring gas and power prices have forced some manufacturers across the continent to curb output, while governments have responded to the crisis with tax cuts and subsidies, mostly for consumers. In its updated assessment for January, Reseau de Transport d’Electricite said it will probably need to activate contracts that allow it to briefly cut electricity to some large manufacturers or even to reduce the voltage in the event of unfavorable weather. As a last resort, rolling power cuts of as much as two hours may occur. https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/france-faces-power-cuts-in-case-of-a-cold-snap-grid-says

Mexico is not alone and other countries like India also are planning to launch a digital currency at a mass scale. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also believes that there are certain benefits if adopting digital currency over the current dependency on cash. The idea, or so, hints the buzz, is that India will disallow all private crypto-currencies like Bitcoin for transactions but at the same time will create a new government-backed cryptocurrency. https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/mexico-to-release-govt-backed-digital-currency-by-2024-indias-rbi-too-plans-something-similar/ar-AASjae6

The American Farm Bureau Federation stated that all nutrients had risen dramatically in cost over the last year: ammonia has increased over 210%; liquid nitrogen has increased over 159%; urea is up 155%; MAP has increased 125%; DAP is up over 100%, and potash has risen above 134%. This does not include the growing cost of transportation. https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/armstrongeconomics101/inflation/fertilizer-inflation-contributing-to-higher-food-prices/

Prestige Bullion reports, South Africa's Krugerrand gold coin should end the year 2021 with a new export record. "In the past twelve months up to the end of November, over 700,000 troy ounces were exported - more than 80 percent of them to Germany,". Such a demand has not existed for at least three decades. "We had a very steep export demand," said Collocott. He gave the export average of the past five years at just under 450,000 troy ounces. https://www.n-tv.de/wirtschaft/Ploetzlich-wollen-alle-Kruegerrand-Goldmuenzen-article23026374.html

Arabica coffee futures are about to register their largest annual gain in a quarter-century due to a global deficit. Arabica coffee futures jumped 78% to about $2.30 per pound in New York this year, putting it on track for the best year since 1994. "Severe weather in Brazil, the world's largest arabica supplier, decimated coffee plantations, contributing to a global shortage just as demand for the high-end variety of beans expanded. That coincided with supply chain bottlenecks including container shortages and longer shipping times,". https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/arabica-coffee-set-largest-annual-increase-1994

The holdings of gold in the foreign exchange reserves of the central banks have been growing worldwide, hitting a 31-year high this year. At the same time, US dollar holdings have been dropping. In 2020, the currency-by-currency ratio of the greenback plunged to the lowest level in a quarter of a century. Analysts say that the central banks, particularly in emerging economies, are continuing their shift to gold, reflecting global concerns about the dollar-based monetary regime. In the first nine months of 2021, Thailand bought some 90 tons, India 70, and Brazil 60. https://www.rt.com/business/544825-dump-dolla-gold/

Corn futures, which have jumped 23.4 percent last year, have paced the grain markets, supported by increased feed usage by livestock as well as a rebound in the ethanol sector The corn market has risen for four years in a row.
Wheat futures were up 20.6 percent last year and were on track for their fifth straight yearly gain and their biggest since 2010. Crop problems in Australia and worries about export curbs in Russia have supported the wheat market throughout 2021. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/grains-wheat-and-corn-up-over-20-in-2021-soybeans-edge-to-third-year-of-gains

Africa - Nigeria - Farmers have lamented over the high cost of feed production raw materials like maize, soybean and other micro-ingredients which have contributed to the closure of several farms. “Maize, in particular, is a gold mine for hoarders which is impacting negatively on poultry farmers. https://tribuneonlineng.com/poultry-farmers-decry-high-cost-of-maize-soybean-seek-govt-intervention/

Outage at websites of one of Portugal's biggest newspapers and of a major broadcaster, both owned by the country's largest media conglomerate, confirmed hit by cyberattack. Hacker group Lapsus$ left message for ransomware payment. The same group allegedly hacked Brazil's Health Ministry website & vaccination data last month. https://www.gadgetsnow.com/tech-news/cyberattack-portugals-impresa-media-outlets-hit-by-hackers/articleshow/88671649.cms

Chicago soybean futures prices rose by about 1.5% on Monday, supported by weather risks for South American crops as well as supply concerns in vegetable oil markets. Corn rose, also underpinned by dry conditions in parts of South America. Forecasts for hot, dry spells in Argentina this month has raised fears over potential yield losses in South America. In Argentina, moisture deficits could expand to affect more than half of corn and soybean crops by next week. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/grains-soy-rallies-on-south-american-weather-concerns

Israel - Cyberattacks hit the media outlets websites of Maariv Online and The Jerusalem Post on Monday (Jan 3), which also marks the second death anniversary of Iran's top military officer Qasem Soleimani. Their Twitter accounts also were hacked and used to share three posts -- two with photographs of an explosion and the third with image of Soleimani. https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/middle-east/israels-major-media-outlets-hit-by-cyberattacks-on-soleimanis-assassination-anniversary-articleshow.html