Hot, dry weather in December and early January has analysts and trade groups lowering their estimates for soy production in key producers Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, helping push up prices of the oilseed by about 12% since the end of November. https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/paraguay-soybean-giant-girds-for-worst-harvest-in-two-decades

Germany’s gas storage facilities are 50.6% full (as of January 11, 2022),” the German Ministry of Economy said, “This corresponds to a theoretical working gas availability of 17.7 days,” https://www.rt.com/business/546399-germany-reveals-gas-reserves/

Oil prices rose for a 4th day to a 7 year high as an outage on a pipeline from Iraq to Turkey increased concerns about an already tight supply outlook amid worrisome geopolitical troubles in Russia and the UAE. Brent crude futures to $88.30 per barrel. Turkey’s state pipeline operator Botas said that it cut oil flows on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline after an explosion on the system. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/19/oil-markets-middle-east-tensions-iraq-turkey-pipeline.html

Canadian border agents began refusing entry to unvaccinated American truckers just days ago, and it’s already causing chaos -- particularly in fruit and vegetable markets. The mandate is adding to Canada’s supply chain turmoil that was already abundant due to recent storms as well as the pandemic. The Canadian Trucking Association estimates the mandate will take as many as 16,000 drivers off the road. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-19/fruit-and-veggie-outages-in-canada-get-worse-with-trucker-shortages

Russia has climbed the ranks to become the largest wheat exporter in the world. There would still be a risk to Russian gas flows via Ukraine to Europe. Potential impact on the production and export of Ukrainian corn and wheat. China, is a large importer of Russian oil. Russian primary aluminium production makes up around 6% of global output, and 15% of ex-China output. Russia is the world's largest palladium producer, while it is also an important nickel producer. Russia is the world's largest palladium producer, while it is also an important nickel producer. https://menafn.com/1103575558/Commodity-prices-could-soar-if-the-Russia-Ukraine-crisis-escalates

US- A digital dollar may also hold tremendous power in terms of tracking every transaction made. This could potentially result in a serious threat to privacy, so safeguards should be put in place to protect individuals from intrusions that threaten their civil liberties. “Every purchase or donation has the potential to be recorded by the government and misused in a number of disturbing ways. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fed-releases-long-awaited-digital-185221957.html

Diammonium phosphate, or DAP, cost $745 per metric ton in December—more than double its 2020 average price. December prices for Eastern European urea, were nearly four times the 2020 average. Inflation rose in about 80% of emerging-market economies last year, with roughly a third seeing double-digit food inflation. https://www.wsj.com/articles/farms-are-failing-as-fertilizer-prices-drive-up-cost-of-food-11642770182

The data accessed came from at least 60 Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies located around the world. The hackers targeted a Swiss company that the ICRC hires to store its data. The organization said it was most concerned that the confidential information people shared with them was leaked in the breach. https://www.zdnet.com/article/red-cross-hit-with-cyberattack-that-compromised-data-of-515000-highly-vulnerable-people/ #ICE9

Russia- ... banning transactions from the Russian market, prohibiting digital denominations from being issued, and preventing financial institutions from investing in them. The mining of cryptocurrencies would be banned under the proposed rule change, as would the ability for investors to cash out. Those falling foul of the laws could face prosecution. https://www.rt.com/russia/546628-moscow-proposes-complete-ban-cryptocurrencies/

Late last year was the Cyber Polygon simulation with the IMF, WEF and major nations and the simulated shutdown of the global financial infrastructure. Ireland is now taking part in a large-scale simulated cyberattack by hostile actors on the EU, in a bid to beef up the union’s cyber defences. The massive operation, runs for a total of six weeks. https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40791447.html

Chicago wheat futures were higher on Monday as the market continued to keep a close watch on tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 was up 0.5% at $7.84 a bushel. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/grains-wheat-edges-up-focus-remains-on-russia-ukraine-tensions

Russia may permit the use of gold-backed stablecoins and the mining of cryptocurrencies under government control. Cryptocurrencies should be banned, but Russia could make use of a stablecoin denominated in gold and under state control. The gold-backed stablecoin could be similar to a golden ruble and Russia can employ it to circumvent sanctions and the policy of containment applied against the country. https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/duma-deputy-chair-insists-gold-backed-stablecoins-crypto-mining-allowed-russia-circumvent

Misconfigurations in smart contracts are being exploited by scammers to create malicious cryptocurrency tokens with the goal of stealing funds from unsuspecting users. The instances of token fraud in the wild include hiding 99% fee functions and concealing backdoor routines. a legitimate contract called Levyathan was hacked after its developers inadvertently uploaded the wallet's private key to their GitHub repository, enabling the exploiter to mint an infinite number of tokens and steal funds from the contract. https://thehackernews.com/2022/01/hackers-creating-fraudulent-crypto.html

The de facto central bank of South Korea has reportedly carried out testing the basic functionalities of a CBDC including manufacturing, issuing, and distribution in a “simulation environment in the cloud,” “The Bank of Korea will partner with the IT and finance industry to seek a utilization plan for the CBDC,” https://www.fxempire.com/news/article/south-korea-enters-phase-2-of-cbdc-tests-after-successful-initial-trials-875286

Turkey slashed electricity supplies to industry after Iran announced a temporary halt in natural gas exports, a move that threatens to hit critical sales abroad. The government has imposed three days of power outages a week in the country’s hundreds of organized industrial zones. Turkey had 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas in storage as of Jan. 18, 42% less than a year earlier. https://www.energyconnects.com/news/utilities/2022/january/largest-ever-power-cuts-hit-turkey-s-industrial-production/

Canada - “We import well over $25 billion worth of food from the U.S. every year,”. “Seventy percent of it goes through the border with truckers. With the vaccine mandate, we just took eight thousand to 16,000 truckers from the system.” Videos circulating on social media show a different scene, with empty shelves and a depleting food supply. One video on TikTok shows an empty aisle at Walmart that would have typically been full of frozen goods. Another video shows empty shelves and only a limited number of frozen foods at a Metro in Ottawa. https://workaccesspermit.com/grocery-stores-food-shortages-in-canada/

Food Security/Poultry -
Already in the last two months, multiple cases had been detected in Canada and Europe, but these new cases are reportedly the first seen in the wild in the United States in five years. And while Eurasian H5 avian influenza (the strain found) is not considered a high risk to humans, the illness can quickly affect bird populations. https://www.nxsttv.com/nmw/news/usda-issues-alert-over-bird-flu-after-first-cases-in-five-years/

Canada's foreign affairs department was hit with a cyberattack last week, according to the Treasury Board of Canada. Some access the internet and internet-based services are not currently available. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/canada-e2-80-99s-foreign-affairs-department-hit-with-cyberattack/ar-AAT6zom

Europe went into the winter season with low stocks of natural gas, which is used for heating homes and generating electricity. Shrinking domestic energy production in places like the Netherlands, wimpy breezes that failed to spin wind turbines as much as hoped, booming Asian demand sucking gas eastwards, and maintenance trouble at French nuclear plants have coalesced into a shortage few saw coming. https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/01/15/europes-energy-crisis-will-trigger-its-worst-neuroses

Spain's producer price inflation accelerated for an eleventh month in December to its highest level on record since the series began in January 1976. The industrial producer price index climbed 35.9 percent year-on-year. Energy prices surged 95.9 percent. Intermediate goods prices surged 20.6 percent year-on-year.

Millions of people were left for hours without electricity on Tuesday when a huge power blackout hit cities in three Central Asian countries. Areas of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan were affected when a shared power line was disconnected. It caused traffic jams, airport delays and other public transport disruptions across the ex-Soviet nations. Due to "a significant emergency imbalance" there was a power surge and the connection was cut, grid operator KEGOC said. https://hksar.org/central-asia-blackout-leaves-millions-without-power