🔹The international parliamentary conference ‘Russia-Africa in a Multipolar World’, was held today (Mar. 20th) in Moscow.

🔹President Vladimir Putin said Russia 🇷🇺 will continue helping African nations produce electricity & will share its technologies with them. He also expressed with confidence that Africa will become one of the leaders of the multipolar world.

🔹He continued saying that "African states are constantly increasing their authority and role in global affairs, asserting themselves more and more confidently in politics and the economy,".

🔹The Russian State Duma Chairman V. Volodin expressed that "Russia and African countries are united by shared goals: We stand together for building a multipolar, just world based on respect for the traditions, culture, and history of the countries with which we are building mutually 🤝 beneficial cooperation,"

🔹The Beninese 🇧🇯 delegation said cooperation between Russia and African countries is an important factor of international cooperation to overcome global problems. Burkina Faso's 🇧🇫 delegation said partnership with Russia is a key factor for the security of the country. Russia's Foreign Ministry said Russia is ready to help Africa become a strong pole of power in the international arena.

🔹Russia’s 🇷🇺 First Deputy Minister of Industry & Trade V. Osmakov said, "a specialized Russian leasing company will most probably be created in Africa. We are currently choosing the location for this leasing company as the African market has its specifics,".

Video courtesy Intel Republic.

🔹Russia will supply grains/agricultural exports to needy countries of Africa free of charge in the case that Russia does not renew the UN brokered grain deal.

🔹The West has not fulfilled previous guarantees of removing all barriers to the export of Russian grain & fertilizers, which is part of the July 2022 deal. Last week, the grain 🌾 deal was extended for 60 days instead of 120 days.

🔹Western media & politicians continue to blame Russia for a world-wide food crisis. However, under the deal European countries received about 45% of grain exported from Ukraine, while the share of African countries was just 3%.

🔹Western countries refuse to connect the Russia's Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT again out of fear that it will be used not only for transactions in the agriculture sector. This has prevented African countries from being able to pay for imports of Russian grain/fertilizers.

🔹Russian grain and fertilizer have been stuck at European ports 🏗 due to western sanctions on shipping payments & insurance. Some of these ships were destined for African countries.

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💠 Russia 🇷🇺 extended the grain deal for 60 days instead of 120 days because of failures to remove restrictions on Russian agricultural exports.

💠 Most grain from Ukraine goes to the EU 🇪🇺 for animal feed at dumping prices, not to the poorest countries.

💠 Russia resumes participation to the Black Sea grain deal after guarantees to lift restrictions on Russian exports of food & fertilizers.

💠 Russia suspends grain deal after ships in the Black Sea were attacked by Ukraine 🇺🇦.

💠 Grain 🌾 deal hypocrisy by western countries, exposed.

💠 Chairman of the African Union visits Russia to discuss food crisis in Africa.

💠 Grain deal signed with safe routes 🚢 made in Black Sea. Previous deal was botched by Ukraine.

Video courtesy AZgeopolitcs
(President Putin at the international parliamentary conference ‘Russia-Africa in a Multipolar World’)

🔹UAE 🇦🇪 president His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, told his Syrian counterpart it was time for diplomatically isolated Damascus to be reintegrated into the wider Arab region. Bashar Al Assad, President of the Syrian Arab Republic 🇸🇾, arrived yesterday (Mar 19th) in the UAE on an official visit accompanied by his wife, the First Lady of Syria Asma Al Assad.

🔹The Emirati 🇦🇪 president called for efforts to facilitate the repatriation of Syrian refugees & endorsed engagement between Damascus and Ankara 🇹🇷, which is now working towards a rapprochement with Assad after years of supporting rebels fighting his gov't.

🔹Discussions on bringing Syria back into the Arab League are gaining momentum, as well as on ways to bring more economic aid into the country. The presence of Turkish troops in northern Syria is another issue that the UAE is helping mediate with Assad.

🔹Sheikh Mohamed offered his condolences to the Syrian President and the people of Syria 🇸🇾 for the earthquake victims. Al Assad emphasised that the UAE's role is consistent with the Syrian vision, which is aimed at strengthening inter-Arab relations in preparation for the joint Arab action.

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💠 President Assad visited Russia 🇷🇺 to discuss political/economic issues on the Syrian crisis.

💠 Türkiye 🇹🇷 has agreed to fully withdraw its troops from northern Syria following tripartite talks involving Moscow, Ankara and Damascus.

💠 US 🇺🇸 sanctions on Syria restrict international aid arriving in Syria during the aftermath of recent earthquakes.

💠 Türkiye believes the presence of Iran in ongoing talks between Türkiye, Syria, & Russia is beneficial for resolving the conflict in Syria.

Video courtesy UAE Forsan

🔹GSK, Moderna, & CSL Seqirus are developing human vaccines 💉as a precautionary measure against a future pandemic of H5N1 influenza (bird flu) despite bird flu being a low risk to humans. There has also been a push among co.'s to develop the same for poultry.

🔹The co.'s say they are ready to mass produce vaccines if bird flu 🦠 ever jumps across the species divide. Human cases of H5N1, however, remain very rare, and the risk of transmission between humans is still low.

🔹People in Great Britain 🇬🇧 who keep chickens in their back garden will have to register them with the gov't under proposed new rules to crack down on bird flu. It does not apply to pet birds always kept inside a domestic dwelling.

🔹Chile 🇨🇱 culls tens of thousands of poultry birds due to detected bird flu.

Earlier bird flu posts on this channel:

💠 The WHO 🇺🇳 claims preparations in case of an outbreak is required.

💠 Culling chickens due to bird flu along with farm fires increase US egg 🥚prices.

💠 Japan 🇯🇵 culls a record 10 million birds due to bird flu.

💠 UK 🇬🇧- Customers are facing limits on how many eggs they can buy.

💠 Spain 🇪🇸 - 2 poultry farm workers tested positive for bird flu.

💠 Millions of chickens euthanized to prevent spread of bird flu at US & UK farms.

💠 Death of seabirds & duck farms in Canada 🇨🇦 linked to bird flu.

Video courtesy Reuters

🔹The Export-Import Bank of China 🇨🇳 (China EximBank), a major policy bank in China, announced that it has achieved the first loan co-operation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 (KSA) National Bank, denominated in yuan. This is towards facilitating financial cooperation under the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

🔹The funds will be preferentially used to meet the demand of China-Saudi Arabia trade projects. The cooperation is a concrete manifestation of implementation of the recently signed comprehensive strategic partnership agreement.

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💠 China mediated the rapprochement between the KSA & Iran 🇮🇷.

💠 China’s imports from & exports to the KSA now exceeds the Saudis combined trade with the US 🇺🇸 & the EU 🇪🇺.

💠 The KSA 🇸🇦 is open to discussions about trade in currencies other than the USD, such as the Chinese yuan.

💠 China 🇨🇳 urges the KSA to help speed up efforts for a Gulf free-trade zone.

💠 The Shanghai Gold Exchange will be used by the KSA for its yuan to gold transactions.

💠 President Xi Jingping boosts cooperation in energy supply chains with the KSA during his state visit.

Photo courtesy Visual Capitalist

🔹Russian 🇷🇺 President V. Putin and his Chinese 🇨🇳 guest, President Xi Jinping have signed more than a dozen documents on increased cooperation between both countries.

🔹President Xi called for efforts of the two countries to raise both the quantity & quality of economic & trade cooperation, enhance trade & investment liberalization & facilitation, so as to keep industrial & supply chains secure & stable.

🔹Moscow and Beijing agreed to “regularly conduct joint maritime 🚢 & air 🚁 patrols and joint exercises,” develop military exchange & cooperation using all available bilateral mechanisms.

🔹President Putin has praised Beijing's 12-point peace roadmap for Ukraine 🇺🇦. The Chinese president said Beijing continues to strictly adhere to the UN 🇺🇳 principles over the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, maintaining a balanced position.

🔹The ministries of science signed a protocol on strengthening cooperation in the field of “fundamental scientific research,”. Six MoU's were signed on trade, forestry, agriculture, consumer protections, and infrastructure in Russia’s Far East.

🔹Rosatom & the Chinese atomic energy agency agreed on “a comprehensive program of long-term cooperation in the field of fast neutron reactors 🏭 and closing the nuclear fuel cycle.”

🔹Russia & China are ready to create a joint working body for the development of the Northern Sea Route. China attaches great importance to the synergy between the BRI & EAEU.

🔹Russia has reaffirmed its commitment to the ‘One China’ principle concerning Taiwan 🇹🇼. Both countries stand for objective probe of Nord Stream explosions.

Video courtesy AZgeopolitics & IntelSlava

🔹President Putin described the expansion of the practice of settlements in national currencies as a significant incentive for deeper investment cooperation. He supports the development of payments in China’s 🇨🇳 yuan in trade with Asian, African and Latin American countries.

🔹 The yuan's share of Russia’s import settlements jumped to 23% by the end of last year from only 4% in January 2022. The yuan’s share in export settlements also surged, 📈 from 0.5% to 16%.

🔹China’s trade with Russia 🇷🇺 hit a record high in 2022, growing by 30% as the West tried to embargo Moscow. Bilateral trade is on pace to hit over $200 billion this year – though two thirds of it have been denominated in yuans and rubles, as both countries move away from the dollar.

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💠 The share of trade between Russia 🇷🇺 & China in national currencies has reached roughly half of turnover (yuan- ruble).

💠 China & Brazil 🇧🇷 set up yuan clearing arrangement in to facilitate cross-border transactions.

💠 The yuan's share of the Russian currency market has risen to as much as 45%, up from less than 1% at the start of 2022.

💠 Moscow & Beijing 🇨🇳 are developing a system of settlements to allow cross-border transactions without using SWIFT.

💠Gazprom move payments for gas exports to China away from USD 💵/Euros 💶 & shift to rubles & yuan.

Video courtesy AZgeopolitics

🔹 Egypt 🇪🇬 & Türkiye 🇹🇷 take new steps to restore relations. Türkiye's FM M. Çavuşoğlu paid a landmark visit to Cairo on Mar. 18th, marking the first time in 11 years that a Turkish FM has visited Egypt. The two countries’ relationship had deteriorated after the Arab insurgencies & revolutions erupted in 2011. Last month, Egypt's FM S. Shoukry visited Türkiye for the first time in over a decade.

🔹 Egypt 🇪🇬 & Russia 🇷🇺 discuss the establishment of a free trade zone between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) & Egypt. Construction of a nuclear power plant in Egypt & expansion of air service between the two countries was also discussed. Trade turnover jumped to over $6 billion in 2022, marking a 30% increase compared to 2021.

🔹 Egypt 🇪🇬 defends the exchange of goods and services with other countries in national currencies instead of the USD. Russia's ruble is now used for trade with Russia. Egypt is willing to sign trade agreements with China & India and use respective currencies.

🔹 Egypt denounced the Israeli Knesset's approval to allow Israelis 🇮🇱 to move into 4 West Bank settlements.

🔹 The World Bank approved a $7 billion loan to Egypt. Over the past 7 years, Egypt has received many loans from the IMF.

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💠 Egypt becomes a member of the New Development Bank of the BRICS 🇧🇷🇷🇺🇮🇳🇨🇳🇿🇦 group. Egypt & China have created the ECEA to encourage Chinese investments in Cairo.

💠 Arab League meets with Russia's FM Lavrov in Cairo, Egypt.

Video courtesy TRT World

🔹 The Netherlands 🇳🇱 central bank reports its first loss since 1931 amid rising interest rates. De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) suffered a loss of almost half a billion euros last year due to the sharp rise in interest rates. That is the first loss in more than ninety years.

🔹 In 1931, the central bank had to take a significant loss on British pounds 💷 after the United Kingdom left the gold standard. Strictly speaking, the net result for 2022 was zero. But the DNB was only able to achieve that by withdrawing the 460 million euros from the institution's 11 billion euro buffer to cover the loss. As a result, DNB cannot pay dividends to the Dutch state.

🔹The pain is mainly felt with the fees that DNB pays to banks for their money that they store at the central bank. These rise sharply due to the higher interest rates. At the same time, DNB has hundreds of billions of euros 💶 in debt securities on the balance sheet that were bought in the aftermath of the financial crisis and during the pandemic. But the income from those bonds is low.

🔹DNB's 🇳🇱 chief, Klaas Knot said he’s been left wondering why the Swiss 🇨🇭allowed shareholders to get any money out of Credit Suisse Group AG. He’s curious on why the takeover deal didn’t write down the bank’s stock. “The strange thing is that the shareholders still got away with €3 billion.’

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💠 The Swiss🇨🇭National Bank reported a loss of 132 billion Swiss francs ($143 billion) for 2022.

💠 UBS is acquires Credit Suisse for almost $3.25 billion, while the Swiss gov't gives UBS a 9 billion Swiss franc guarantee.

Video courtesy SUERF - The European Money & Finance Forum

🔹French 🇫🇷 protests continue for the 8th consecutive day over the forced ruling on a pension reform legislation to raise retirement age from 62 to 64. Protesters set fire to bins and piles of uncollected rubbish, causing firefighters 🚒 to intervene.

🔹Refuse collectors have been on strike for over two weeks in several cities, with Paris seeing thousands of tonnes of uncollected rubbish on the streets. The large front door of Bordeaux's historic town hall - the Palais Rohan - was on fire.

🔹Unions called for new protests & strikes next Tuesday when the British 🇬🇧 king is scheduled to visit Bordeaux on the second day of his trip to France.

🔹Unions claimed 3.5 million people turned out across the country today (Mar. 23rd), while the authorities suggested the figure was much lower, at just under 1.1 million. Today was the 9th union-organized demonstrations since January.

🔹High-speed and regional trains 🚃, the Paris metro and public transportation systems in other major cities were disrupted. About 30% of flights ✈️ at Paris Orly Airport were canceled.

🔹The worst clashes took place in Place de l’Opéra and later at Place de la Bastille where police attempted to disperse them with teargas.

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💠 Fiery protests ensue across French 🇫🇷 cities on Mar. 16. French gov't enacts pension reform legislation without a vote -- by invoking article 49.3 of the constitution, due to fears that gov't lacked a majority in the National Assembly to pass the legislation by voting.

💠 French unions stepped up protests and strikes against pension reform plans on Mar. 7th & Mar. 11th-12th.

💠 At least 1.1 million people protested on the streets of 🇫🇷 Paris & other French cities on 19th January amid nationwide strikes.

🔹Polish 🇵🇱 coal miners angered by a EU directive aiming to reduce methane emissions protested on Mar. 24th before the EU office in Warsaw saying it will deprive them of their jobs.

🔹Miners carried a coffin displaying images of climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, the EU Commission's president Ursula von der Leyen & deputy Frans Timmermans.

🔹Protesting miners from the Solidarity 80 union said recent climate recommendations for EU member states that call for a significant reduction of methane, starting in 2027, would force most of the nation’s mines ⛏ to close, with the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.

🔹The majority of Poland’s mines have a high presence of methane gas that gets released in the coal extraction process. The EU's 🇪🇺 directive introduces penalties for methane emissions higher than 5 tonnes per 1,000 tonnes of extracted coal.

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💠 Polish 🇵🇱, German 🇩🇪, Italian 🇮🇹 & Spanish 🇪🇸 farmers protest inflation & the EU's climate change polices.

💠 Dutch 🇳🇱 & Belgian 🇧🇪 farmers protest the EU's nitrogen emission rules.

🔹Iranian 🇮🇷 exports of crude oil hit the highest level since 2018, after the US unilaterally re-imposed sanctions against Tehran to curb the exports & the associated revenue to Iran. Iran exported 83 million more oil barrels 🛢 in the Iranian calendar year running 20th Mar. 2022 - 21st Mar. 2023 compared to the previous year March 2021-2022.

🔹The Iranian Oil Ministry has said it would welcome any offer for foreign investment in its oil and gas projects after a senior Saudi Arabian 🇸🇦 official said his country would be ready for “quick investment” in Iranian development projects.

🔹Natural gas exports increased by 15% in March 2022-23 compared to the previous Iranian year. Iran achieved a new record in natural gas production in the South Pars gas field, located in the Persian Gulf & shared with Qatar 🇶🇦. A trilateral gas swap deal between Iran, Turkmenistan 🇹🇲 & Azerbaijan 🇦🇿 helps foil sanctions imposed against the country.

🔹Iraq 🇮🇶 imported some $1.97 billion worth of natural gas from Iran in 2022 despite continued American pressure on the country to reduce its reliance on the Iranian energy.

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💠 Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 & Iran agreed to resume diplomatic ties.

💠 Russia's 🇷🇺 Gazprom signs $40 billion contract (swap deal) for plans to help transport gas between northern & southern Iranian provinces.

💠 Iran & Venezuela 🇻🇪 to share technological advances in petrochemicals, oil & gas sectors.

💠 Iran has discovered new oil reserves in the country’s southwest, using new tech & methods.

💠 Iran has lost $450 billion in oil revenues in a decade due to US 🇺🇸 sanctions

💠 Iran discovers its first lithium ore deposit with some 8.5 million MT of lithium ore, making it the world's 2nd largest reserve.

Video courtesy RT

🔹Ousted Pakistani 🇵🇰PM Imran Khan defied roadblocks and a media blackout to hold a big rally at Lahore's Minar-i-Pakistan, where he lambasted his opponents & presented his party's roadmap for economic prosperity.

🔹The PML-N-led gov't in power backed by the powerful military establishment tried cutting Lahore from the rest of Pakistan and placed containers in the city. The broadcast media in the country blacked out the coverage of the event.

🔹Khan, who is facing threats to his life, addressed the rally from a bullet-proof glass. Khan said a cabal of thieves have been imposed on the nation after toppling his gov't in April last year. (It is alleged that the US & other foreign state actors funded millions of dollars 💵 to opposition parties in Pakistan to secure the no-confidence vote of 174 in the 342-member house.)

🔹Mr Khan’s plan focuses on boosting revenue through foreign exchange and investment, widening the tax network, and anti-money laundering initiatives. He also outlined steps to promote agriculture, tourism, a housing finance scheme, a health card programme, and small and medium-sized industries.

🔹He said the main problems plaguing Pakistan’s 🇵🇰 economy were foreign debt, a current account deficit, reduced exports, pressure on the rupee and tax evasion.

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💠 Attempted assassination of former PM, Imran Khan.

💠 Russia will sell crude oil 🛢to Pakistan at a discounted price.

💠 Pakistan has asked Russia 🇷🇺 to introduce a currency swap arrangement.

🔹Authorities nationalized all assets of a subsidiary of the American oil and gas giant Exxonmobil in Chad 🇹🇩. ExxonMobil said it closed a $ 407 million deal to sell its assets in Chad & Cameroon to Savannah Energy. USA.

🔹The gov't of Chad challenged the agreement, stating that the final terms are different from those presented by ExxonMobil & warned that it could appeal to the court to block the purchase and take further steps to protect its interests. The Doba project and the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline are considered vital and sovereign assets for Chad. Chad, which has the 10th largest reserves in Africa, exports 90% of its oil 🛢.

🔹🇺🇸 Exxon's assets in the country include a 40% stake in the Doba oil project, which comprises seven producing oilfields with combined production of 28K bbl/day, and a stake in the 620-mile Chad 🇹🇩-Cameroon 🇨🇲 oil pipeline.

🔹Savannah said it plans to pursue all its legal rights to contest Chad’s move. “The Conventions are subject to the jurisdiction of an ICC tribunal, seated in Paris and the co. intends to pursue all of its legal rights.”

🔹In 2021,Mahamat Idriss Deby, a 4-star general first headed the transitional military council after the death of his father the president. The next day he was appointed acting president of the republic and the functions of head of the Chadian Armed Forces which are are among the most powerful in the Sahel region ( Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Chad ).

🔹Protests grow after Israeli 🇮🇱 PM B. Netanyahu, today (Mar. 26) dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant after he said the gov't should delay moving forward with a highly-contested plan to overhaul the country's judicial ⚖️ system. He had said countrywide protests against the judicial overhaul, which have included growing numbers of military reservists, were also affecting regular forces and undermining national security.

🔹Tens of thousands of Israelis have rallied in Tel Aviv against a controversial judicial overhaul. The Tel Aviv protest swelled yesterday to around 200,000 demonstrators. Israel's coalition gov't announced judicial changes in Jan. '23, which the gov't says is necessary to rebalance powers between lawmakers & the judiciary.

🔹Netanyahu recently vowed during a televised speech to push forward with his judicial overhaul despite a conflict of interest agreement barring him from making changes to Israel's judicial system while on trial for three counts of corruption.

🔹According to a JP source, the Israeli 🇮🇱 Defense Force (IDF) is currently at the proper level of readiness for any security challenges by virtue of a carefully calibrated mix of deterring IDF reservists from striking, while keeping an open dialogue to make officers feel their voices are heard.

🔹Kenya 🇰🇪 has been facing is a US dollar 💵 shortage in the country, making the importation of goods and services to the country difficult. President William Ruto directed that moving forward, oil brokers will not hoard dollars as the gov't will now be making purchases of oil using Kenyan shillings.

🔹Ruto further exposed a clique of Kenyans who were hoarding dollars in an unethical quick money-making scheme. He explained that brokers will no longer distort the market after the reintroduction of the exchange market.

🔹The opposition party have been encouraging protests against the gov't despite police banning them as illegal. During last Monday's protests, several businesses and properties were destroyed or looted.

🔹Kenya 🇰🇪 expects to finish talks for a trade and investment deal with the US 🇺🇸 by the end of this year and to sign the agreement by April 2024. Former President Trump's admin began negotiations in 2020 for a full free trade agreement with Kenya to lower tariffs between the two nations. But the Biden admin, did not resume those talks.

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🔹India has given approval for opening a special rupee vostro account with Kenya for facilitating international trade in the Indian 🇮🇳 rupee.

🔹Saudi 🇸🇦 Aramco to supply petroleum products in Kenya for 6 months on credit, due to Kenya's shortage of US dollars.

Video courtesy NTV Kenya

🔹Nickel resumed Asian-hours trading on the London Metal Exchange (LME) today Mar. 27th, more than a year after the LME suspended trading & canceled billions of dollars worth of deals in response to a runaway short squeeze.

🔹Last week, the LME invalidated over US$2 million 💵 of nickel traded in nine contracts, that belong to JPMorgan Chase & Co. This nickel at the LME kept in the form of briquettes in bags turned out to be just bags of stones.

🔹This has triggered mass inspections by warehouse staff having to rush to check tens of thousands of two-ton bags of nickel. The LME said a few days ago, that it has no reason to believe any other LME-approved facility is affected.

🔹Indonesia's nickel boom ⛏ (fuelled by the 'green' energy push), threatens farmers' land rights and harms the environment. Farmers face the prospect of losing their land and livelihood. Contaminated soil from nickel mines brought down the hills by rain has turned the coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean a deep red colour

🔹Soaring global demand for nickel, used in lithium-ion batteries & stainless steel has pushed major users to zero in on Indonesia 🇮🇩, Southeast Asia's largest economy. Russia 🇷🇺 accounts for 7% of global nickel and is one of the world's biggest exporters of nickel traded on the LME. Sanctions have worsened the market volatility.

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💠 Last year, a massive short squeeze on the nickel market saw prices move from $25,000 USD per ton to over 100,000 USD in 2 days in a market that normally moved within a single digit percentile range per day. Margin requirements were raised and trading was halted as billions were lost by holders of short positions.

💠 IEA estimated that the world will need roughly 20 times 📈 as much nickel & cobalt by 2040 as it had in 2020.

Video courtesy Bloomberg & Wion

🔹Russia’s 🇷🇺 diesel exports are on course to hit a record this month despite EU sanctions depriving the country of its biggest market. Türkiye 🇹🇷, Morocco 🇲🇦 and other nations have stepped up purchases, though some cargoes from Russia are also being held in floating storage. Russian refiner/producers offer deep discounts.

🔹Shipments of diesel-type fuel out of Russia during the first 19 days of March stood at about 1.5 million barrels a day. If that rate is maintained, this month will see the highest exports 📈 in data going back to the start of 2016.

🔹Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 is importing millions of barrels of diesel from Russia, despite having more than enough of its own. It imported almost 2.5 million barrels of diesel-type fuel from Russia in the first 10 days of March, far more than at any other time in the last six years. It is speculated that Saudi traders 🚢 are turning a profit by selling discounted Russian fuel to Europe at a higher price.

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💠 Europe imported a 7-year record volume of diesel ⛽️ from the Middle East & Asia last month.

💠 Indian 🇮🇳 refiners are gobbling discounted Russian crude grades for re-export as diesel fuel and other distillates.

💠 The EU 🇪🇺 is floating a plan to cap the price of Russian diesel at $100 a barrel.

🔹 Russia 🇷🇺 and India 🇮🇳 are considering the possibility of creating a transarctic container line and building processing facilities near the Northern Sea Route (NSR). "The creation of an alternative way of delivering goods from India to Europe was discussed - not along the southern or western routes, but along the eastern, through the NSR, using both Russian and Indian port facilities.

🔹 Russia wants the NSR, which runs along Russia’s northern coastline and is the shortest shipping 🚢 route between East Asia and Europe, to become a major shipping lane and has invested heavily in infrastructure there. Rosatom is discussing with Lukoil and Gazprom Neft oil companies on the possible redirection of part of the Arctic oil🛢 from the west to the east along the NSR.

🔹It is not currently used in winter due to thick ice. But spurred on by the warming of the Artic, Moscow plans to begin year-round shipping by end of this year. Russia is operating more icebreakers along its Arctic coast now than at any time in the country's three-decade, post-Soviet history.

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💠 Russia 🇷🇺 & Iran 🇮🇷 are building a new transcontinental trade route, the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), across the Caspian Sea that connects Moscow with Asian and Persian markets.

Video courtesy United24

🔹 Saudi Arabia's 🇸🇦 King Salman authorized during a Cabinet session, a MoU to grant the Arab country the status of a dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The decision comes one day after China's President Xi Jinping held a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

🔹 Belarus 🇧🇾 discusses process to move from observer status to full member of SCO. This ascension is supported by Iran.

🔹Members of BRICS 🇧🇷🇷🇺🇮🇳🇨🇳🇿🇦 and the SCO are interested in joint work in the Arctic region. India the current chair of the SCO, is holding a host of events leading up to the SCO summit this summer. The SCO accounts for 42% of the global population.

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💠 Iran’s 🇮🇷 Constitutional Council, approved Iran's membership in the SCO. Belarus is ready to expedite the fulfillment of international legal procedures for joining the SCO as a full member.

💠 Chinese President Xi Jinping wants China 🇨🇳 to cooperate more with SCO member Turkmenistan 🇹🇲 on energy.

💠 "Interested SCO member states" agreed a "roadmap for the gradual increase in the share of national currencies in mutual settlements", outside western currencies/payment systems

💠 Iran proposed a new currency for trade with SCO members.

🔹 China 🇨🇳 and Brazil 🇧🇷 have reached a deal to trade in their own currencies. “The expectation is that this will reduce costs... promote even greater bilateral trade and facilitate investment,”. China is Brazil’s biggest trading partner, with a record US$150.5 billion (S$200 billion) in bilateral trade last year.

🔹For the exporter, trade can continue to be carried out in dollars 💵. But for those who choose to sell between Brazillian Real and Chinese Renminbi, a kind of currency instrument will be established in Brazil to guarantee the conversion and liquidity between the two currencies. The clearing house must be established in a Chinese bank in Brazil, which has now been designated by the Bank of China, Beijing. China has the same system in several countries around the world, including Chile 🇨🇱 and Argentina 🇦🇷.

🔹China has been Brazil's biggest trade partner for 14 consecutive years, and Brazil is the first Latin American country to hit a trading volume of over $100 billion USD with China.

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💠 China 🇨🇳 & Brazil 🇧🇷 set up yuan clearing arrangement in to facilitate cross-border transactions.

💠 Brazil & Argentina 🇦🇷 wants to "advance discussions on a common South American currency" to be used for financial and trade flows.

Video courtesy Glen Beck