Summary translation of official 🇷🇺 Gazprom report on the "technical malfunction".

🔹During maintenance 🪛🔧🔩 work on the Trent 60 gas compressor unit (GPA No. 24) of the Portovaya compressor station, carried out jointly with representatives of Siemens, an oil leak with an admixture of a sealing compound was detected at the connectors of the terminal connections of the cable lines of the low and intermediate pressure rotor speed sensors.

🔹Oil has been detected on the cable plug connection of the BPE2 subplate included in the motor. Oil was also found in the area of the cable line in the external terminal box of the GPA automatic control system outside the noise and heat insulating casing. The oil leak detection report was also signed by representatives of 🇩🇪 Siemens.

🔹According to Siemens information, the complete elimination of oil leakage on these engines ⚙️ is possible only in the conditions of a specialized repair shop 🇨🇦.

Picture: One of the identified leaks at GPU No. 24.

🔹ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, 🏭 will shut down one of the two blast furnaces at the Bremen, Germany 🇩🇪 flat steel site until further notice. The Hamburg long steel plant will be shut down from Q4.

🔹Reasons: The exorbitant rise in energy prices, 📈 weak market demand, a negative economic outlook and persistently high CO2 costs.

Recent metal companies affected in Europe:

💠 Belgian 🇧🇪 stainless steel producer & German 🇩🇪 aluminium smelter shutting down.

💠 Norwegian 🇳🇴 owned Norsk Hydro is planning to shutter a 175,000-ton annual capacity aluminum smelter in Slovakia. The Budel zinc smelter in the Netherlands 🇳🇱, placed on idle indefinitely.

💠Europe has lost about half of its zinc and aluminum smelting capacity 🔥within the past year.

💠Europe’s largest copper producer, 🇩🇪 Hamburg-based Aurubis AG, aims to minimize gas 📉 use.

🔹 MakeUK, the lobby group for 🇬🇧 UK factories, survey said that 13% of factories now have reduced hours of operation..., and concluded that soaring energy bills are threatening to put six in 10 British manufacturers 🏭 out of business.

🔹🇬🇧 A Resolution Foundation study indicated that spiking energy bills would cut household incomes in the country by 10% 📉 and push an extra 3 million people into poverty. Inflation-adjusted average incomes would continue falling..., taking real earnings back to their levels of 2003.

🔹In March 2022, claims were that the UK can soon become natural gas independent of Russia 🇷🇺. Now Boris blames Putin for high energy prices in the UK. 🤷‍♂️

Previous reports:

💠 UK gov't warned of mass civil unrest by pending energy rate 📈 increases.

💠 UK Firewood 🪵 sellers see price jump after ban on importation of firewood from Russia.

💠 Tensions increase between UK energy 🔋suppliers and their customers.

🔹Moscow 🇷🇺 has approved the application of Japan’s Mitsubishi to continue its participation in the Sakhalin-2 LNG project following its transfer to a new operator and approved a separate application from Japan’s Mitsui to transfer its 12.5% stake in the project to the new entity.

🔹Tokyo Gas, the largest city gas supplier in Japan, 🇯🇵 has signed a long-term LNG agreement with the new Russian operator. The largest power generation firm in Japan, JERA, recently signed a long-term LNG deal to maintain its supply from the Sakhalin-2 project.

🔹The Japanese government is taking the unprecedented step of preparing to buy 🚢 LNG if companies can’t afford to do so.

Previous developments on Sakhalin-2:

💠 President Putin 🇷🇺 ordered the re-organization of the Far Eastern Sakhalin-2 LNG project, transferring ownership to a new domestic company.

💠 Japan lacks viable alternatives to Russian LNG, 🚢 which it buys relatively cheaply under long-term deals, to secure its baseload power.

🔹India 🇮🇳 purchased 20% of the available August shipments of Russian ESPO oil, 🚢 a brand of Siberian crude. The US 🇺🇸 has urged New Delhi to support a price cap on Russian oil, but India seems reluctant to do so.

🔹Russia's 🇷🇺 deputy PM said it won't sell oil to countries that go along with a US-led plan to impose a price cap.

🔹Speculation arises that shipping companies will use insurance companies in China, 🇨🇳 India 🇮🇳 and Russia 🇷🇺 for oil shipments. Russian oil may change custody in other countries and then be re-exported to Europe.

🔹OPEC+ is already producing less than it was supposed to & hinting at a 🛢 production cut. OPEC+ meets on Sept. 5, and may roll back the planned production increase for September.

Previous reports on crude oil market:

💠India 🇮🇳 cuts US crude imports by 50% & US crude oil inventories 6% below 5-yr average.

💠Venezuela 🇻🇪 interested in trading crude oil for refined fuels with Italy & Spain.

💠OPEC+ says spare crude 🛢 capacity is becoming scarce.

🔹September 4th - Over 70,000 Czech 🇨🇿 protestors went to the streets in the country's capital, Prague, demanding the government take a neutral stand on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis.

🔹The protestors have been asking the Czech government to ensure that energy 💡supplies, which the country gets from Russia 🇷🇺, should not be hampered ahead of the winter season. The protest was organised at the heart of the capital, Wenceslas Square, and was held just a day after the government survived a no-confidence motion.

🔹Western media 📺 report that the protesters are far-right and fringe political groups.

🔹Czech Prime Minister Fiala, said the protest 🔥 was organized by "pro-Russian forces close to extremist positions".

Video compilation of protest from social media and a report from OneIndia.

🔹Germany's 🇩🇪 ammonia producer SKW Piesteritz is in talks with the federal gov't, in hope for funding to prevent a shutdown.

🔹Achema, on Sept. 1st 2022, the Lithuanian 🇱🇹 producer of nitrogen fertilizers, reportedly shutdown its factory. Their prices became uncompetitive compared to Russia 🇷🇺 & the US 🇺🇸.

🔹Achema is the only co. 🏭 in Lithuania that produces nitrogen based fertilizers. It’s the largest consumer of natural gas in the country.

🔹At the end of August, Poland's 🇵🇱 biggest chemicals firm Grupa Azoty decided to limit fertiliser production to 43% capacity. Nitrogen based fertilizer (ammonia) production will be halted.

Previous reports on European fertilizer producers:

💠 Norway's 🇳🇴 Yara International, UK's 🇬🇧 CF Fertilisers & Austria's 🇦🇹 Borealis AG are cutting ammonia production at facilities across Europe due to high natural gas prices.

💠 Germany's 🇩🇪 BASF, the world's largest chemical co., is cutting ammonia production due to soaring natural gas prices.

🔹Germany 🇩🇪- Wittenberg's District Administrator warns of far-reaching consequences of SKW Piesteritz shutting down its ammonia plants. SKW Piesteritz also produces the 'Diesel Exhaust Fluid', Ad-Blue.

🔹In a crisis meeting at SKW on September 1, a report emerged that nationwide AdBlue stocks can enter an acute shortage if no immediate solution is found.

🔹Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF), ⛽️ the emissions control liquid required by modern diesel engines. Electronics send the vehicle into emergency mode at bicycle speed if DEF is missing. It is injected into the exhaust stream to remove harmful nitrogen oxide emissions.

🔹DEF is a urea-based solution. Sanctions on the world’s #1 urea exporter 🇷🇺 Russia, and China’s 🇨🇳 restrictions on urea exports 🚢 has contributed to supply chain issues.

Video- BR24 Germany. Auto-translated with sentences missing.

🔹Kremlin 🇷🇺 says West must lift sanctions for gas deliveries to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 (NS1). Gazprom says NS1 remains closed indefinitely.

🔹Russia's Deputy PM blamed the EU’s 🇪🇺 for violation of conditions of the repair contract & equipment shipping.

🔹European gas prices was up 23% today. 📈 Russia is still sending gas to Europe via pipelines through Ukraine 🇺🇦 & the South Stream via Turkiye 🇹🇷.

Background:

💠 During maintenance 🔧of gas compressors feeding Nord Stream 1, oil leaks were discovered.

💠 Ongoing problems for servicing 🇷🇺 Gazprom's gas turbines for Nord Stream 1 by Germany's Siemens.

💠 German 🇩🇪 Chancellor claims one turbine is ready to be shipped from Germany.

💠 Gazprom claims declare 'force-majeure' on Nord Stream 1. 📉

💠 Gazprom 🇷🇺 stopped the operation of a second Siemens turbine for servicing.

💠 Gazprom was awaiting the full volumes of function testing/safety/legal documents 📂.

💠 Western sanctions 🇨🇦 have been stalling the return of the turbine.

🔹Gazprom 🇷🇺 says they will move payments for gas exports to China 🇨🇳 away from USD/Euros and shift to rubles & yuan (split evenly). This will take effect immediately for its contract with China's National Petroleum Corp (CNPC).

🔹Russia started pumping gas to China through the 3,000-km (1,865-mile) Power of Siberia gas pipeline in late 2019. Power of Siberia 2 feasibility study completed (photo).

Recent developments for the ruble:

💠 Türkiye 🇹🇷 to pay Russia for gas partly in rubles.

💠 Iran 🇮🇷 and Russia unifying banking systems for trade in ruble/rial currency pair.

💠 Russia 🇷🇺 designates exported grain 🌾 and sunflower oil under ruble only payments.

💠 Ruble gold interchangeability mechanism helped ruble to become Q2 2022 world's best performing currency & is a strategy to keep gold inside of Russia 🇷🇺.

💠 Ruble-yuan 📈 trade up 1067% in Q2 of 2022.

💠 Bulgaria 🇧🇬, Poland 🇵🇱, Finland 🇫🇮, The Netherlands 🇳🇱, & Denmark 🇩🇰 Russian gas cut for failure to pay in rubles.

🔹USA 🇺🇸 - California power 🔌 usage surged to a record high on Sept 6th, raising the emergency status of the state’s electrical system to the highest possible level amid a blistering heat wave (photo-right) 🌡. Power Co., PG&E Corp., said it had notified about 525,000 customers that they could lose power for up to two hours.

🔹There are more than a million EV’s registered in the state, & in the last week, utility officials requested EV owners not to charge their vehicles due to grid limitations.

🔹Grids across the country will be under extreme duress in the future of increased EVs on roads, leading to instability issues & frequent blackouts 🔦.

Recent posts on US grid:

💠 Utility co.’s face delays & high costs 📈 for transformers.

💠 A surge in decommissioning fossil fuel power plants 🏭 has outpaced new clean energy generation 🔌 capacity.

💠 Utilities are warning of supply constraints for equipment🔋.

💠 The💡NERC report from June warning of unreliable sections of electricity grid.

🔹One of Russia’s 🇷🇺 top banks, VTB has become the first lender in the country to launch money transfers to China in yuan, sidestepping the global financial messaging system SWIFT.

🔹“The new reality is leading to a massive abandoning of the use of the US dollar and the euro in international payments,” VTB CEO said. “We are the first Russian bank to install an alternative cross-border bank transfer service with China 🇨🇳 & plan to increase the volume of these transactions by five times by next year,”.

🔹VTB plans to maintain presence on the markets of China, India 🇮🇳, Kazakhstan 🇰🇿, Vietnam 🇻🇳 & other friendly countries.

Recent posts on bypassing SWIFT:

💠The System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), 🇷🇺 Russia's replacement for SWIFT, is open to banks from the BRICS nations.

💠Iran 🇮🇷 proposed a new currency for trade with China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

💠Alternative payment systems 💵 to SWIFT available to Russia.

🔹The EU 🇪🇺 proposed a price cap on Russian gas. Russia has warned that such a move can result in gas flows cut-off. The EU also plans a ceiling on the price paid for electricity 🔌 from generators that do not run on gas.

🔹Electricity prices 📈 in Germany 🇩🇪 have skyrocketed more than 600% this year. Germans are cutting back on oil-fueled modern luxuries in hopes that rationing today can help prevent blackouts down the line.

🔹Banks 🏦 across Europe are preparing for possible power outages this winter by stress-testing backup generators.

🔹France 🇫🇷 will send gas to Germany in exchange for electricity should the energy crisis worsen. Germany is more dependent on Russian 🇷🇺 gas than France, which generates most of its electricity in nuclear power stations.

Background:

💠Nord Stream 1 gas to Germany 🇩🇪 shut off.

💠French 🇫🇷 electricity futures contracts for next year up 10X in the past year.

💠Waiting lists, sky rocketing prices and export bans on firewood 🪵 across European countries

BRICS+ role, grows in new multipolar world.

🔹Chairman of Russia's 🇷🇺 Federation Council, states “initiatives aimed at the creation of an international reserve currency based on a basket of the national currencies of BRICS+ are promising”.

🔹South Africa’s 🇿🇦 National Assembly speaker, calls for a collective solution from BRICS+ to mitigate the global food, 🌾 fuel 🛢 & financial crisis.

🔹Chairman of China’s 🇨🇳 top legislature, urged BRICS+ legislative bodies to play an active role in providing legal guarantees & policy support for cooperation.

Recently:

💠Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦, Turkey 🇹🇷, and Egypt 🇪🇬 plan to join BRICS+.

💠The System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), 🇷🇺 Russia's replacement for SWIFT, is open to banks from the BRICS nations

Video- Eastern Economic Forum ongoing this week in Russia.

🔹USA - 🇺🇸 Egg-laying farm in Ohio has started euthanizing all of its flock, roughly 3 million chickens, due to bird flu (avian influenza). Approx. 43 million chickens and turkeys 🦃 this year has been culled across the U.S.

🔹UK - All poultry & captive birds to be culled at farms in Cornwall & in Essex. England -New virulent strain of bird flu reported killing seabirds. Lots of reports of dead gannets on land in the past few days. Wales - Protection zone set up in Gwynedd, restricting bird 🐓 movements & gatherings (Photo).

🔹France 🇫🇷 - Thousands of seabirds perished along France's western shores in past weeks reportedly due to bird flu. French farmers now concerned because they were forced to cull more than 19 million birds between November '21 & May '22.

Earlier bird flu reports:
💠 Death of seabirds in Canada 🇨🇦 linked to bird flu.

💠 US egg 🥚prices increase due to culling of hens across US.

💠 Quebec, Canada duck-farming 🦤 operation face financial ruin due to bird flu outbreak.

🔹Evergrande’s Hong Kong 🇭🇰 headquarters has been seized by a lender after Evergrande defaulted on a loan and twice failed to sell the building. The lender, appointed a receiver to take charge of the property that is valued at $1.2bn and force a sale.

🔹Evergrande 🇨🇳 has exited its investment in Shenyang-headquartered Shengjing Bank, selling its remaining 14.57% stake for 7.3 billion yuan (US$1.04 billion). The buyer was a seven-member consortium comprising three state-owned companies from Shenyang, & four private firms from Beijing.

🔹10 days ago, global funds that invested in Evergrande bonds came up with their own debt restructuring plan & demanded that its chair repay liabilities with his own fortune. Evergrande holds over $300 billion 💰 in liabilities.

Previously reported on this channel:

💠 Evergrande's CEO & CFO resigns after loan diversion investigation. China’s Banking regulator 🏦 may intervene into the ongoing mortgage boycott.

🔹EU energy ministers clash over a plan to put a price cap on 🇷🇺Russian gas. EU 🇪🇺 energy commissioner, said “nothing is decided” but defended the cap plan as reasonable. Power prices & Dutch TTF continue correcting after recent spike (Photo)

🔹10 EU members want the price cap to be placed on all suppliers of gas via pipelines, so the EU wouldn't be seen as singling out Russia.

🔹EU countries supported a proposal to offer emergency funds 💰to power 🔋firms. The possible EU's windfall plan will skim off excess revenues from coal/nuclear/hydro/wind power producers.

🔹Greece 🇬🇷 opposes a cap on the supply of Russian natural gas favouring the solution to set a maximum price in the Dutch TTF.

Previous developments for price cap.

💠 Russia 🇷🇺 warned that a price cap can result in gas flows cut-off.

💠French 🇫🇷 electricity futures contracts for next year up 10X in the past year.

💠Waiting lists, sky rocketing prices and export bans on firewood 🪵 across European countries.

🔹India 🇮🇳 banned exports of broken rice and imposed a 20% duty on exports of various grades of rice, in hopes of calming local prices after below-average monsoon rainfall curtailed planting. Rice 🌾 prices in key exporters India, Thailand, Vietnam & Myanmar are set to rise 📈. India accounts for more than 40% of global rice shipments.

🔹China, 🇨🇳 one of the biggest importers of Indian broken rice for use in animal feed, is expected to shift to corn 🌽. Speculation arises about an alliance of Thailand 🇹🇭 & Vietnam 🇻🇳 planning to increase export prices.

🔹India's neighbour Bangladesh 🇧🇩 has cut import duty on rice from 25% to 15.25%, sending rice up 5% in West Bengal, India.

Recent rice reports on this channel:

💠 India's 🇮🇳 planting areas of rice decline by 13%.

💠 China 🇨🇳 is virtually self-sufficient in rice. Imports of rice only account for 3% of the nation's total demand.

🔹Several thousand people yesterday (Sept. 9th) rallied near the palace of President Maia Sandu in the Moldovan 🇲🇩 capital Chisinau. Moldovans have been subjected to high price increases 📈 for energy. The organizers said that many buses with protesters were not allowed into the capital by the police. Protesters gathered and burned 🔥 their bills in front of the presidency to protest the inflated prices for gas, electricity, water & other utilities.

🔹State-backed gas distributor Moldovagaz failed to fulfil wholesale payments to its sole gas supplier, Russia's 🇷🇺 Gazprom. This has happened several times since last November. Russia's Gazprom had accepted a request by Moldovagaz last month, to postpone a deadline for the payment of an advance.

🔹President Sandu at a briefing on Moldova’s status as a candidate member of the EU🇪🇺, refuses to admit management mistakes, preferring to blame “pro-Russian forces” for destabilizing the situation in the country.

Video compilation sourced from social media.

Steel market developments while Europe de-industrialises:

🔹Steel prices expected to recover after it's recent slump, as China 🇨🇳 announces a stimulus package of $4 billion for infrastructure spending.

🔹Nov. deliveries of hot rolled coil will see a 13% price hike, & commodity-grade long steel will rise by $150 per ton. ArcelorMittal has idled blast furnaces at its Asturias plant in Spain 🇪🇸 & its Dunkirk plant in France 🇫🇷.

🔹Outokumpu, the largest producer of stainless steel in Europe🇪🇺, announced that it would delay the restart of one of its ferrochrome furnaces.

Recently reported steel news on this channel:

💠ArcelorMittal, shut down one of the two blast furnaces at the Bremen, Germany 🇩🇪. It's Hamburg long steel plant will be shut down from Q4.

💠Stainless steel producer Aperam is shutting down its production facility in Genk, Belgium 🇧🇪

💠Chinese 🇨🇳 iron ore port 🚢 inventories in May registered their sharpest decline of the past year.