U.S. 🇺🇸 authorities have stopped a ship 🚢 traveling from Russia 🇷🇺to Louisiana with a cargo of fuel products. The Daytona tanker is owned by Greek shipowner TMS Tankers Ltd. and was chartered by Vitol. It sailed from Russia’s Taman peninsula in the Black Sea in early June carrying fuel oil ⛽️and vacuum gasoil. The ship was prevented from discharging its cargo, and is undergoing checks by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The US embargo does not apply to crude and refined products that have passed through Russia, such as Kazakh oil🇰🇿, which uses the pipeline network of its neighbor to reach ports⚓️. The Taman peninsula terminal handles both Russian and Kazakh oil products.

❗️Farmers 🚜 driving tractors are blocking highways in the Netherlands 🇳🇱 in the latest protest sparked by a government pledge to rein in pollution emissions, a move that will hit the country’s agriculture sector by forcing farmers to reduce their animal herds 🐄 or shut-down their farms.

Dutch broadcaster NOS reported that farmers lit small fires 🔥 outside town halls in the city of Apeldoorn and the town of Epe in the central Netherlands.

The Dutch governing coalition has mandated reductions in emissions of nitrogen oxides and ammonia of up to 70% in many areas of the country close to protected nature areas — even reaching as high as 95% in some places.

The Pentagon has agreed to fund the entire $120 million cost of a heavy rare earths separation facility to be built in 🇺🇸 Texas by Australia’s Lynas Rare Earths. Rare earths are a group of 17 elements with unique properties used in virtually every piece of modern technology, from smartphones to jet engines. Although the United States pioneered the industry during World War II, China 🇨🇳 now controls over half of global rare earths mining ⛏and 80 to 90 percent of intermediate processing.

A 2021 study by the U.S. Department of Energy found that a one-year export ban on rare earths by China could cause a 40 percent drop in magnet 🧲 production outside of China as metals would become harder to obtain. China controls the price of multiple commodities of rare earths because they are by far the most dominant producer.

Biden admin alongside the G-7 🇨🇦 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 🇯🇵 🇮🇹 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 announced that they will ban gold imports into G-7 countries from Russia in order to "further impose financial costs on Moscow.

The biggest buyers of gold in recent years have not been G7 countries, many of whom naively sold much if not all their gold in the recent past and have refused or simply don't have the funds to restock; instead purchases have all been by developing nation central banks (like India🇮🇳 and Turkey, and of course China🇨🇳 which however has a habit of only revealing its true gold inventory every decade or so.

The interchangeability of rubles into gold via banks in 🇷🇺Russia has been a strategy to keep gold within the country as well. Russia and EAEU/SCO countries need gold to increases reserves for their plans to back national currencies by commodities.

Farming update:
❗️Germany🇩🇪- The poultry industry in Lower Saxony warns of the consequences of a gas shortage in the agricultural sector and demands priority for its branch in the supply. Without gas, it is not only the supply of poultry meat 🍗and eggs🥚 that is at risk. There would also be immediate animal welfare problems on the farms. From the hatchery to the barn to the slaughterhouse, all companies in the poultry industry are dependent on the energy source.

❗️'Vets and ecologists' in the UK 🇬🇧publishes study to show that industrial (factory) farming of animals may reduce the risk of pandemics and the emergence of dangerous diseases compared to 'free range farming'🐓. A widespread switch to low-yield farming (free range/homesteading) would result in the destruction and disturbance of vast areas of natural habitats and increases the risk of viral🦠 spillover.

❗️Tightening milk 🥛output is set to continue into next year across Europe, including in the UK, as input costs soar and as farmers in the 🇪🇺EU scramble to meet the bloc’s green-oriented production rules. “Lots of farmers are quitting dairying 🐄 as they choose not to make the needed investments to meet the new requirements.”

📌 The UK 🇬🇧 will cut off gas supplies to mainland Europe🇪🇺 if it is hit by severe shortages under an emergency plan that energy companies warn risks exacerbating a crisis on the continent. European gas 🔥companies have appealed to the UK to work with the EU and warned shutting off interconnectors could backfire if prolonged shortages occur. Britain imports large volumes of gas from the continent at the height of winter.

📌 Since March, two undersea pipelines connecting Britain with Belgium 🇧🇪and the Netherlands🇳🇱 have been working at maximum capacity, exporting 75mn cubic metres a day of gas to the continent. The UK has minimal gas storage capacity so excess supplies, including imported cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG), are sent to the continent when demand is low in the summer months. (Photo- Natural gas pipelines in red)

US policy towards oil markets enters self-destructive path.

❌ U.S. 🇺🇸crude inventory in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) fell to 497.9 million barrels, the lowest since April 1986.
❌ Biden says he will 🇸🇦 not ask Saudi Arabia for increased oil production, blames 🇷🇺 Russia for rising prices ⛽️.
❌ Biden admin drilling plan may exclude all waters beyond Gulf of Mexico.
❌ The CEO of Shell, has raised doubts about plans by G7 nations to impose a price cap on Russian oil. “You will continue to just see Russian 🇷🇺 crude go to countries that are perfectly OK to still purchase Urals".
❌ Last month, Biden admin delays oil and gas lease sales 🛢amid environmental protest.
❌ In May, Biden admin cancels high-profile Alaska oil and gas lease sale.

❗️ The European 🇪🇺 manufacturing sector is crumbling under the weight of sustained high electricity 🔌 and natural gas 🔥 prices. We’re reaching the point of ‘no idea is too crazy’: wholesale energy price caps, suspension of markets, removal of CO2 costs and limits, burning more coal. Everything has to be backed up with multi-billion-euro loans from governments to key sectors.

The affected industries will be those with the most intensive energy use: fertilizer, base metals and steel, chemical, ceramic, glass and paper. Heated greenhouses 🌱and chicken 🐓farms face astronomical energy bills.

❗️German🇩🇪 energy major Uniper is seeking a government bailout due to the financial impact of dwindling supplies of Russian natural gas.

❗️Russia's 🇷🇺 Nord Stream natural gas pipeline to Germany will shut down for 10 days for annual maintenance.

💡Following the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) report warning that two-thirds of the U.S. 🇺🇸 could experience blackouts this summer. Utilities are warning of supply constraints for equipment, which could hamper efforts to restore power during outages🔌. They are also having a tougher time rebuilding natural gas stockpiles for next winter as power generators burn record amounts of gas 🔥following the shutdown of dozens of coal plants in recent years and extreme drought cuts hydropower supplies in many Western states.

💡The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), responsible for power 🔋reliability have warned that grids in the western half of the country could face reliability issues this summer as consumers crank up air conditioners to escape the heat.

🌽 Pennsylvania, USA 🇺🇸- Successfully growing sweet corn hasn’t come without its challenges this year, with fluctuating weather. With the rise in fuel prices and supply shortages, the price of seed has increased “a little bit,” spray is “hard to get” and fertilizer costs have gone up, as well. Corn is again the top US crop after soaring grain prices motivated farmers to plant more than expected while cutting back on soybeans.

🌽 Corn is a primary feedstock for ethanol ⛽️producers and as its price rises, so do the production costs for many ethanol plants located in the corn-belt region of the U.S. A likely result from this increased cost of producing ethanol from corn is margin contraction and reduced profits for many in the industry.

👉 Libya’s 🇱🇾National Oil Corporation (NOC) declared force majeure on crude exports from its oil terminals amid continued blockades of production and ports, ⚓️which have severely crippled Libya’s oil exports. Libya’s exports have recently ranged from 365,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 409,000 bpd, which is a decrease of 865,000 bpd compared to “normal production rates under normal circumstances,”.

👉 OPEC’s 🛢crude oil production fell in June compared to May, due to outages in Libya and Nigeria, and the 10 cartel producers bound by the OPEC+ pact lifted their combined production by just 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) last month.

👉 More than two weeks of protests in Ecuador 🇪🇨 caused state-run oil company Petroecuador to lose 1.99 million barrels of oil production.

🔥 Rubles💰for gas now escalates to rubles for wheat 🌾. All according to plans by the EEAU/SCO/BRICS as stated in April's article.

❗️ The Russian 🇷🇺 government has added grain, sunflower oil and extracted meal to the list of exports that must be paid for in rubles. Russia is the world’s largest wheat 🌾exporter and a major supplier of sunflower seeds.

❗️Russia 🇷🇺 and Ukraine 🇺🇦 account for 14% of global wheat production and rank 1st and 5th respectively. Both countries are prominent exporters, providing nearly 30% of global wheat exports. The EU 🇪🇺, U.S. 🇺🇸, and Canada 🇨🇦 are also major producers and exporters of wheat. China 🇨🇳 and India 🇮🇳 are major wheat producers, but are net importers and provide relatively small shares of global wheat exports. Other countries with fairly large wheat export shares include Australia 🇦🇺(8.4%), Argentina 🇦🇷(6.6%), Kazakhstan 🇰🇿(4.1%), and Turkey 🇹🇷 (3.4%).

🎊 Happy 4th of July 🎉 to all subscribers from the USA.🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Hope you all are having a wonderful day reflecting and planning on preserving the constitution. 👍

❗️Shortage of commercial carbon dioxide (CO2) supplies hit in New Zealand due to energy markets upset and closure of oil refinery. One of the country’s largest fruit and vegetable 🥦🍎 growers, 🇳🇿 New Zealand Gourmet, hopes to find a workaround. Production of tomatoes at its 12-hectare site near Taupo affected by about 20%.

❗️Tegel is warning that it may not be able to produce some chicken 🍖 products because of a shortage of CO2 gas (used as dry ice in meat processing) in 🇳🇿 New Zealand that is also threatening brewers and fizzy drinks makers.

❗️A group of UK 🇬🇧 investors appeals to the gov’t to help rescue the Ince fertilizer plant from closure, one of only two fertiliser 🏭 factories in Britain and is a key supplier of commercial CO2. Shutdown of Ince could weaken Britain's food supply chain and pose a risk to key supplies of CO2.

❌ Japan 🇯🇵 will have to continue importing Russian 🇷🇺 liquefied natural gas (LNG) due to surging energy prices and limited prospects for rebooting nuclear plants. Japan lacks viable alternatives to Russian LNG, 🚢 which it buys relatively cheaply under long-term deals, to secure its baseload power.

❌ Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the re-organization of the Far Eastern Sakhalin-2 LNG project, transferring ownership to a new domestic company. Ownership of the project operator will be transferred to a company set up by the government for free use. This could further tighten world markets and push 🇯🇵 Japan into fighting Europe 🇪🇺 for energy resources.

❌ It may also have a ripple effect on other projects in Russia that Japan is involved with. Japan left between balancing energy security with Russia or continuing following western sanctions. Japan’s Mitsui and Mitsubishi, are minority shareholders in Sakhalin Energy Investment Co.

❗️❗️Some of the lavish deliveries of ‘lethal aid’ from the US,🇺🇸 UK 🇬🇧and other 🇪🇺NATO countries to Ukraine can now be purchased on the dark web as corrupt Ukrainian military officials sell it to the black market. Western countries taxpayer money is now financing international arms dealers 🔫 and terrorists which can be used against citizens of western countries.

❗️❗️Ukrainian 🇺🇦 arms smugglers may have already established contacts with border guards and are able to cross in and out of Poland without complications. The prices on the marketplace are shockingly low.

❌ Germany 🇩🇪 reported its first monthly trade deficit in three decades, 📉as companies faced surging costs for imports and softer demand for their products amid a darker economic outlook. Prices for imports like energy, food and parts used by manufacturers rose by more than 30% in May compared to a year ago.

❌ Bail-out law in the works: The German government will be able to buy stakes in energy companies buckling under the cost of soaring gas import prices, 📈 according to draft legislation. The amended law, which may come before parliament this week, could also allow the government to impose emergency levies on consumers.

❌ The euro sank 💶 to a two-decade low versus the 💵 dollar. The rising costs for CO2 emissions mean further burdens for households and companies as Green Agenda is pushed.

📌 Netherlands🇳🇱 - Dutch 🚜 farmers protests turn violent with stand-offs against armed police/🚓 undercover police after weeks of peaceful protests against the gov’t's radical plan to cut nitrogen emissions by 50% - 95% by 2030. Teargas and dogs were unleashed against farmers.
The gov’t green agenda will destroy over 1/3 livestock 🐄 farming in The Netherlands. The new emission plan is tied to both the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the EU’s Natura 2000 conservation plan which effectively targets and destroys private property rights for farms.

📌 Local media also reported of empty shelves in some supermarkets, with mostly fresh produce such as 🍞 bread, 🥦 vegetables, 🍎 fruit and milk🥛 in short supply. (Video- compilation over the past few days all over The Netherlands).

🔹 Uganda 🇺🇬 announced that it had discovered 31 million metric tons of gold waiting to be mined in the country after several surveys were conducted. In a bid to boost the country’s economy, the Ugandan government has licensed Wagagai gold mining company, a Chinese firm to start producing gold products in Busia district. The company has invested $200M towards constructing a refining 🔥 facility. Despite all the gold discovered in the country, the mining ⛏difficulty is notably high, and this impacts the amount of gold that is actually mined.

🔹 Uganda’s Central Bank has raised its benchmark policy rate by 1% to 8.5% 📈in a radical move. This was occasioned by panic amidst surging inflation levels and increased pressure exerted by the US dollar against the local currency as a result of spikes in interest rates.

🔹 Last week, China 🇨🇳 & Uganda 🇺🇬 celebrated 60 years of diplomatic relations and hope to continue win-win partnership.

🔹 Australian 🇦🇺 gov't is exterminating tens of millions of bees in a bid to ward off a varroa mite plague. Varroa mites feed and reproduce on larvae and pupae of the developing brood of bees. 🐝

🔹 While authorities are still optimistic they can contain the mite, experts concede doing so will be difficult. No major beekeeping nation has managed to get rid of the varroa mite. Australian experts say it's important to remember varroa has NOT caused a honey bee 🐝 shortage anywhere in the world. The mite has spread across the world to colonise almost every known location of European honeybees.

🔹 Some experts say use biocontrol not extermination. Treating the mite 🪲as an biocontrol would mean diverting money away from extermination towards control measures to help industries live with varroa; such as, increasing the use of native pollinators and allowing the mite in European honeybee hives, so as to allow a recovery of native pollinators because the varroa mite has little impact on native bees.🍯

🔹 The U.S. Treasury 🇺🇸 has imposed more oil and petrochemical industry sanctions on Iran 🇮🇷 amid stalled nuclear negotiations. New sanctions are on an international network of companies and individuals involved in the marketing of Iranian crude oil and petroleum products in East Asia.

🔹 More than 5 million barrels of oil 🛢 that were part of a historic U.S. 🇺🇸emergency reserves release to lower domestic fuel prices were exported to Europe 🇪🇺 and Asia last month. About 1 million barrels per day is being released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) through October. The flow is draining the SPR, which last month fell to the lowest since 1986.

🔹 China 🇨🇳 likely imported another 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of discounted Russian crude oil in June after bringing in around the same amount in May, keeping Russia 🇷🇺 as its top oil supplier ahead of Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 for a second consecutive month.