Posted on 06/13/2022 12:08:16 PM PDT by blam
Well this is awkward…
The Biden administration has been quietly urging agricultural and shipping companies to buy and carry more Russian fertilizer, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the efforts.
The move comes as fears over sanctions have led to a sharp drop in supplies, contributing to the ongoing ‘spiraling global food costs.’
The effort is part of complex and difficult negotiations underway involving the United Nations to boost deliveries of fertilizer, grain and other farm products from Russia and Ukraine that have been disrupted by President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of his southern neighbor.
US and European officials have accused the Kremlin of using food as a weapon, preventing Ukraine from exporting. Russia denies that even as it has attacked key ports, blaming the shipment disruptions on sanctions imposed by the US and its allies over the invasion. -Bloomberg
With Moscow being a key supplier of fertilizer, the US and EU have included exemptions on sanctions against doing business with Russia – however many shippers, banks and insurers have been cautiously staying away out of fear that they might accidentally run afoul of the rules in an expensive lesson. Now, US officials are trying to encourage activity in the space.
Exports of Russian fertilizer are notably down 24% YTD.
As Bloomberg notes, the new push by Washington underscores the current challenge facing the west – which seeks to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine, while also easing pressure on economy-damaging food inflation during an election year in America. Since the war began in February, already-high inflation spiked further – a point Putin regularly makes while railing against sanctions.
Earlier this month, the Biden admin sent a representative to UN-led talks with Moscow regarding supply issues – as insufficient deliveries of fertilizer could also negatively affect next year’s crops.
The Kremlin has insisted that the US provide assurances to global buyers that they won’t face sanctions, suggesting it as a condition to unblock any shipments of Ukrainian farm products now.
“For Russia, it’s really important that U.S. authorities send a clear signal that these deals are permitted and in the interest of global food security and they shouldn’t refuse to carry them out,” said Ivan Timofeev, a sanctions specialist at the Kremlin-founded Russian International Affairs Council.
Russian grain exports are down only 14%, while wheat exports doubled in May, according to the Russian grain union, while more than 25 million tons of Ukrainian grains, sunflower oil and other commodities are stuck in Ukraine due to security fears over Black Sea ports and shipping lanes. With the new harvest beginning, officials caution that the situation will become more dire.
Talks on releasing those shipments have gone slowly, with Putin seeking to pin the blame on Ukraine for not wanting to remove mines from ports placed to defend them from possible attacks by Russian forces. Kyiv has said it’s not convinced by Moscow’s assurances that it won’t strike, noting that Russia also insisted before the war that it wouldn’t invade.
De-Mining Ukraine’s Ports May Take Months, UN Agency Says Russia won the support of Turkey in its calls for sanctions relief last week, but Ankara’s efforts to mediate a solution to restart shipments so far haven’t yielded results. -Bloomberg
According to James O’Brien, head of the Office of Sanctions Coordination at the State Department, “We’re working together with our partners to get about half of what Ukraine exports out each month,” adding “So we’re looking at a substantial shortfall.”
Finally, we can’t help but see the irony that Washington is urging farmers to buy Russian fertilizer (implicitly in part funding Putin’s war against Ukraine), while at the same time providing arms and funding to Ukraine (in Ukraine’s war against Russia). A real MIC reacharound.
That’s what the Mueller investigation was; and the “news” of Ukraine’s heroics against Russia.
Here you go again Mr (not my) President -
Let’s discourage domestic production of fertilizer and buy from the Russians.
Because … fertilizer is made from ….
refined natural gas.
Oil and gas bad. Prices go thru the roof, cripple the economy. Buy from our enemies rather than provide jobs, lower energy costs, drive the green agenda at the cost of the American public.
From https://context.capp.ca/articles/2020/pirl-fertilizers/
Fertilizers from natural gas
“Nitrogen, together with phosphorous and potassium, is one of the biggest macro-nutrients required for plant growth. Natural gas is a commonly used as a feedstock to produce two nitrogen-based fertilizers – ammonia and urea – in large quantities.
In the production of ammonia or urea, natural gas is processed at an upgrading plant together with nitrogen (taken from the air). During the process, 80% of the gas is used as feed¬stock for fertilizer, while the remaining 20% is used for heat and electricity production. The two main end products, ammonium nitrate and urea, are then mixed with other ingredients—mainly phosphorus and potassium—to manufacture a range of synthetic fertilizers for use on farms.
The case for petrochemical fertilizers
Nitrogen-based fertilizers have been shown to drastically improve yields over organic means of fertilization, such as manure or compost. As such, use of synthetic fertilizers is about 50 per cent higher in Canada than it was a decade ago.
A key advantage of synthetic fertilizers is their ability to either be immediately available to plants—by virtue of their solubility—or to slowly release their active ingredients to provide an ongoing nutrient supply. Both of these properties can be highly desirable to farmers, as the former creates immediate growth response in the target, and the latter has longer-term benefits—like decreased costs—with less frequency required for fertilizer application.
We’ve been offshoring production due to cheap foreign labor for decades.
More that western MSM fails to realize or report.
“ The Hill pointed to a weak spot in the US. The country will not survive the energy crisis if Russia stops the supply of enriched uranium to American nuclear power plants. The country is already experiencing a fuel crisis, a record rise in prices, refusing to supply oil and petroleum products from the Russian Federation. But what will happen if Russia stops the supply of enriched uranium to American companies. Russia controls 40 percent of the global uranium enrichment market. The share of US nuclear energy exceeds 20 percent of generating capacity in some parts of the country.”
And Vlad says checkmate again.
And more:
Several dark web marketplaces are selling military weapons allegedly sourced from Western countries to support the Ukrainian military. It is likely that the weapons have been shelved from the main supplies and are now being sold to terrorists. In one of the markets called Thief, there are 9 ads from 3 suppliers associated with Ukraine.
A vendor called Weapons Ukraine sells rifles, grenades and body armor for prices ranging from $1,100 to $3,600, promising delivery within Ukraine. Despite the lack of reviews about the store, 32 people have already made a purchase.
Another supplier, Big Discounts on Weapons, offers an American Javelin anti-tank missile system for $30,000. The seller indicated the location of the goods in Kyiv.
In addition, the Black Market Guns store sells NLAW anti-tank missiles for $15,000 and the American Switchblade 600 Kamikaze UAV for $7,000.
t.me/intelslava
/31085
80.5K views
Jun 13 at 02:22
Look who’s buying Ukrainian Wheat (see above) - EVERY DAMN COUNTRY, other than the last one is solid Muslim. Nothing wrong with that, but if their people do starve, Ukraine, or what’s left of it, will have quite a bit to answer for.
It seems that we’ve been put on the dirty end of the stick.....by the enemy within.
The Hillary Clinton uranium deal as to play a roll in our present predicament.
You have a good grasp of the situation.
So, what’s next? Biden quietly urging companies to purchase Russian oil?
It makes perfect sense to Demofarts. Use billions of dollars to send weapons to Ukraine so that the Ukrainians can kill Russian soldiers. Then, secretly purchase products from Russia so that Putin can continue the war to conquer Ukraine, while coincidentally killing thousands of Ukrainian soldiers who are armed with U.S. weapons paid for by the U.S. taxpayers.
If there is any validity to The Law of Supply and Demand, the fertilizer that daily spews from the mouth of Brandon Bite-Me should be the most abundant and therefore the cheapest on earth.
Well of course he does.
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