The Paradigm Shift Channel ⏳

2022-04-19 17:49:34 US Avian Flu- About 23 million birds, mostly poultry, and turkeys — have been culled in efforts to stem the spread of avian flu over the past two months. The current strain of bird flu poses a low risk to humans. US egg prices more than doubled in March. Free range eggs are no longer available on UK supermarket shelves, as the “largest ever outbreak” of bird flu has kept hens inside for months. Open / Comment

2022-04-18 17:26:57 US - CF Industries Holdings (major nitrogen fertilizer producer) warned of delays in shipment of its nitrogen fertilizers. Union Pacific mandated certain shippers to reduce the volume of private cars on its railroad. CF planned to increase fertilizer shipments to both U.S. coasts from the world's largest nitrogen complex in Louisiana to help offset shortages. This is not possible again and have to reduce its shipments by nearly 20%. Open / Comment

2022-04-18 17:09:37 Coffee producers affected by high fertilizer prices. Brazil is the largest producer (35% worldwide) and exporter of coffee beans in the world. Brazil is highly dependent on Russian nitrogen based fertilizers and potash fertilizers from Belarus. Both countries are facing western sanctions. Coffee futures have been volatile on the COMEX. In Feb, prices hit 100% increase in a year, now stands at a 74% increase in a year, $2.24 per/lb. Open / Comment

2022-04-17 17:31:52 North American farmers become vocal on problems they face for reliable food production.
- Higher costs for diesel fuel, electricity and machine parts are stressing Maine farmers.
- Texas farmers face increase in prices for pesticides, herbicides and insecticides.
- Fertilizer, seed, gas and diesel price inflation affects Ohio farmers.
- Arkansas farmers faced with limited availability and skyrocketing prices for herbicides.
- New Brunswick, Canada farmers express high fertilizer costs as seeding season approaches. Fertilizer Canada CEO Karen Proud said about 85% of all nitrogen fertilizers used in the eastern provinces come from Russia. Open / Comment

2022-04-17 17:05:28 Crypto News:
- European Commission receives more than 10,000 public comments amid digital euro consultation.
- Russia's Ministry of Finance drafts crypto bill, for exchange and digital trading platforms’ operators’ activities to be licensed and controlled by a Russian government body.
- Two major Indian cryptocurrency exchanges have disabled deposits via a popular payment system due to unclear gov't regulations.
- North Korean hackers pulled off $620 million crypto heist from an online video game network. Open / Comment

2022-04-17 03:40:58 Environmental factors affecting farmers this week:
- Third consecutive dry year sets in on California, drought affecting grapes and almonds crops.
- Iraq crop failures grow due to drought, farmers look to migrate. Not all wheat farmers have access drought resistant seed.
- Hailstorm damages crops in Thakurgaon district, Bangladesh.
- Reduced wheat production due to dry spell in Haryana, northern India.
- Kuttanad, southern India- the 'Rice Bowl of Kerala'. Rice crops set to be harvested in a fortnight destroyed in pre-monsoon rains. Open / Comment

2022-04-16 18:54:30 Conti ransomware gang managed to forcefully shut down the internal IT systems of Nordex wind turbine company and brought down remote access to their turbines. Conti posted about the March 31 attack on April 11, but the information was made public on April 14. Nordex didn’t reveal what kind of cyber attack occurred in late March. Since Conti hasn’t started leaking any data, it could be that the cybercriminals group is negotiating ransom demand with the company. “Nordex turbines continued operating without restrictions and wind farm communication with grid operators and energy traders was, and remains, unaffected.” Nordex implemented alternative remote control services for the majority of its fleet. Open / Comment

2022-04-16 18:41:20 UK - Waitrose, Sainsburys and Morrisons have started rationing the amount of sunflower cooking oil customers can buy, due to major shortages. Customers are alerted to the new restrictions of only buying two bottles of cooking oil at a time, which are applicable for online orders as well. Prices of sunflower oil in the EU remain unprecedented after Russia announced plans to limit the amount of sunflower oil exported to 1.5 million tonnes. Russia is the second-largest producer of sunflower seed and sunflower oil in the world, after Ukraine. India's palm oil imports jumped 18.7% in March from the previous month, as traders moved to secure alternatives to sunflower oil. Video- Demand in Turkey, unavailability in Germany, demand in France. Open / Comment

2022-04-15 19:59:37 EU is working on broadening sanctions on Russia to include oil and gas embargoes but such measures would take "several months". Oil markets reacted immediately yesterday. WTI crude climbing to $107 per barrel. Europe is split on an immediate oil embargo, with the biggest economy—Germany—not willing to go for it, for now, saying an oil ban would plunge Germany, and Europe, into a deep recession. Russia plans to sell more to Asia, using SWIFT bypasses and bilateral currency swaps. Open / Comment

2022-04-15 03:14:52 The Former Head of Bank of Japan’s financial settlement department, Hiromi Yamaoka, stated that CBDCs could end up destroying the economy. Concerns arise on using CBDC's to achieve negative interest rates. Japan-based trading company Mitsui & Co. plans on issuing a gold pegged cryptocurrency in the country. Brazil’s central bank has unveiled plans to start a CBDC pilot program that will be launched in 2022. Central Bank of Iran announced that it notified domestic banks and credit institutions about a series of regulations related to Iran’s ‘crypto-rial’, its forthcoming CBDC. Open / Comment