Strong earthquakes struck western Afghanistan on October 7, leaving at least 2,060 people dead, the Associated Press reports.
“The death toll from the powerful earthquakes that rocked western Afghanistan has risen to more than 2,000, a Taliban government spokesman said on Sunday. “This is one of the deadliest earthquakes to hit the country in two decades,” the official said in a statement on Sunday.
The powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake was accompanied by strong aftershocks. Approximately six villages were destroyed and hundreds of civilians were buried under the rubble, an Afghan official said.
Initially, several hundred deaths were reported, but now the number has risen to 2,060, according to official figures.
The UN expects the death toll to rise as search and rescue operations continue and there are reports that some people may have been trapped in the rubble.
The earthquake destroyed 465 buildings and damaged another 135.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located about 40 kilometers northwest of the Afghan city of Herat. It was followed by three very strong aftershocks, as well as weaker tremors.
Commissioning of housing in Ukraine, mln sq m
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
PrJSC United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC), which has taken over management of Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (VGMK, Dnipropetrovs’k region) and Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant (IGOK, Zhytomyr region), has resumed shipments of titanium raw materials (ilmenite) from its Irshansk branch to the European market.
According to the SPF press release, in October, UMCC started shipping ilmenite concentrate from IGOK to the Czech Republic. Under the contract, the company is to supply 30 thousand tons of finished products to the European market by the end of 2023. The customer is a company that produces titanium pigment TiO2, which is widely used in various industries for the production of consumer goods.
At the same time, it is explained that these are the first shipments of ilmenite from the Irshansk branch in 2023. Due to the martial law, destroyed logistics and constant shelling in 2022, the products accumulated in previous periods were stored in the company’s warehouses for almost more than a year, which was an obstacle to the resumption of new ore production.
One of the main tasks set by the State Property Fund for the new management board of UMCC is to establish exports and expand the geography of direct supply contracts. By the end of the year, our company plans to ship about 105 thousand tons of ilmenite concentrate to the European and American markets,” said Yegor Perelygin, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of UMCC, as quoted by the press service.
The United Mining and Chemical Company began its actual operations in August 2014, when the Ukrainian government decided to transfer the property complexes of Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (VMMC, Dnipropetrovska oblast) and Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant (IGOK, Zhytomyrska oblast) to its management. Previously, these plants were leased to Firtash’s structures. Then the company was transformed into a PJSC and then into a PrJSC.
In August 2016, the government included UMCC in the list of companies to be privatized in 2017. Its deadline was postponed several times, and the tender was disrupted twice.
UMCC used to sell its products to more than 30 countries and was one of the world’s largest producers of titanium raw materials, accounting for 4% of the global market. The company mines titanium ore.
US President Joseph Biden’s administration is preparing to announce a new arms package for Ukraine next week, Reuters reports.
“The composition of the next arms aid package is still under development and is due to be unveiled on Wednesday at the 16th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels, where security assistance will be a key topic, officials said. The amount of aid is expected to be about $200 million and may include ammunition and ground equipment similar to those in recent aid packages,” the report said.
It is noted that the US Department of Defense continues to spend funds identified as a result of a multibillion-dollar accounting error. These funds have allowed the Biden administration to send weapons, materials, and ammunition to Kyiv, despite the fact that new aid to Ukraine was excluded from the temporary spending bill passed by the House of Representatives last weekend to prevent a government shutdown. However, the Pentagon still has approximately $5.4 billion available under the Presidential Decision Authority (PDA) granted by Congress, after the Pentagon revealed in June that an accounting error had overstated the cost of arms delivered to Ukraine by $6.2 billion.
In addition, Biden is asking Congress to approve another $24 billion for Ukraine, which supporters of aid to Ukraine, both Republicans and Democrats, had hoped might become law as part of the spending bill. This request has not yet been considered.
Passenger flow through western border of Ukraine in July 2023, thousand
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Agrarians in all regions of Ukraine harvested 46.7 mln tonnes of grains and oilseeds, including 32.308 mln tonnes of grains and 14.43 mln tonnes of oilseeds, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reported.
According to the report, grain and leguminous crops were harvested on an area of 7258 thousand hectares with a yield of 44.5 c/ha.
To date, Ukraine has harvested barley on 1505 thousand hectares (101% of the plan), from which 5.863 million tons were harvested; wheat – from 4695 thousand hectares (101%) 22.210 million tons were harvested; corn – from 414 thousand hectares (2%) 2.5 million tons. hectares (10.2%) 2.210 million tons; corn – from 414 thousand hectares (10.2%). hectares (10.2%) 2.585 million tons; peas – from 154.4 thousand hectares (103%) 396.8 thousand tons were harvested; millet – from 68.7 thousand hectares (82%) 155.1 thousand tons were harvested; buckwheat – from 122.4 thousand hectares (86%) 173.8 thousand tons were harvested.
In addition, other grains and pulses were harvested in the amount of 923.1 thou tons from 300 thou hectares.
Ukraine continues to harvest oilseeds, in particular, 4.005 mln tons of rapeseed (4.003 mln tons a week earlier) from the area of 1.396 mln hectares (98%), 7.308 mln tons of sunflower (5.031 mln tons a week earlier) from the area of 3.171 mln hectares (63%), and 3.118 mln tons (2.205 mln tons) from 504 thsd ha (67%).
Sugar beet was dug from the area of 68.4 thou hectares (49.6 thou hectares a week earlier), which is 27% of the planned area. The harvest amounted to 3.267 mln tons.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy is monitoring the relevant information in connection with the revision of the harvest forecast for all crops. Thus, the yields of wheat, barley and peas are in line with last week’s figures – 47.3 c/ha, 39 c/ha and 25.7 c/ha, millet yields increased to 22.6 c/ha compared to 21.8 c/ha a week earlier, buckwheat yields decreased to 14.2 c/ha compared to 14.4 c/ha the previous week. The corn yield is 62.5 centners per hectare compared to 54.2 centners per hectare last week. The yield of rapeseed and soybeans remained unchanged at 28.7 c/ha and 25.6 c/ha, respectively, while sunflower yields dropped to 23.0 c/ha, down from 28.7 c/ha a week earlier. The yield of sugar beet increased to 477.5 c/ha compared to last week, when it was 462.2 c/ha.
As reported, this season’s winter wheat plantings amounted to 4166 thousand hectares (-834 thousand hectares compared to the previous one), winter barley – 536 thousand hectares (-255 thousand hectares), and rapeseed – 1374 thousand hectares (+110 thousand hectares).
According to the adjusted forecast of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, in 2023, farmers will be able to harvest 79.1 mln tons of grains and oilseeds, including the following volumes: wheat – 21.7 mln tons, barley – 5.7 mln tons and corn – 28.5 mln tons. Gross production of oilseeds will reach 21.6 million tons, including 13 million tons of sunflower, 4 million tons of rapeseed, and 4.6 million tons of soybeans. The sugar beet harvest is forecast at 13.7 million tons.
As reported, in the early spring of 2023, the total gross harvest for the current year was forecast at 63.5 million tons, or 13% less than in 2022. In June, after the start of the harvest, the forecast was raised to 68 million tons, or 7% less. In early September, due to favorable weather conditions, the forecast was revised upward to 76.7 million tons.
