Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

Cereal exports through Polish ports increased by 70%

Exports of grain crops through the four main Polish seaports in MY 2022-2023 (July 2022-June 2023) exceeded 6.6 million tons, 70% more than in the previous MY, when almost 3.9 million tons were exported, said Marcin Wroński, deputy head of Poland’s National Center for Support of Agriculture (KOWR).

“The very large increase in grain exports by sea – by 70% – in the 2022/2023 season was made possible by the fact that in order to solve the problem of grain surplus on the domestic market, the Polish government took measures aimed at improving logistics and transportation capacities,” Marcin Wroński was quoted as saying by Polish publication farmer.pl.

Financial incentives for farmers in the form of grain subsidies also played a major role, which had an impact on export volumes through the Baltic Sea berths, which have been growing month by month, explained the deputy head of KOWR.

According to him, in the 2022/2023 season, wheat was mainly exported through the national seaports – more than 4.4 million tons compared to almost 2.1 million tons a year earlier, as well as corn – more than 2 million tons compared to about 1.3 million tons in the previous season. 74,000 tons of triticale, 68,000 tons of rye, 64,000 tons of barley and 16,000 tons of oats were also shipped through Baltic ports.

Wroński noted that grain was exported mainly through the seaport in Gdynia – 52%, or 3.5 million tons. Another 31% of the volume, or 2 million tons was shipped through the port of Gdansk. Exports through the seaport of Szczecin-Swinoujście amounted to 17% – about 1.1 million tons of grain.

“May and June (2023 – IF-U) were record months for grain exports by sea: in May we exported 882 thousand tons of grain through ports in Gdynia, Gdansk, Swinoujście and Szczecin, and in June this figure reached 937 thousand tons. We have never had such a result as in June,” emphasized the deputy head of KOWR.

He added that grain exports were also carried out through smaller ports, such as Kolobrzeg, so the total grain exports through the ports in June approached 1 million tons.

According to KOWR’s calculations, in the 2022/2023 season grain exports through sea, road and rail channels totaled more than 11 million tons, which was a record result in the history of Polish grain trade.

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Number of hungry people in world has reached 735 mln – UN

Some 735 million people in the world will face hunger in 2022, an increase of 122 million from 2019 figures, according to a UN report.

“It is estimated that 691 million to 783 million people in the world will face hunger in 2022. Taking the average of 735 million, it is clear that 122 million more people suffered from hunger in 2022 than in 2019,” the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023 report said.

In addition, the number of people experiencing severe food insecurity in 2022 was about 900 million – 180 million more than in 2019.

At the same time, 2022 saw a slowdown in economic recovery from the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and rising food and energy prices, which in turn undermines the incomes of those most at risk of hunger.

At the same time, some regions of the world have made progress in combating hunger, such as Asia and Latin America. However, in Western Asia, the Caribbean and Africa, hunger continued to increase from 2021 to 2022. The number of people suffering from hunger in Africa has increased by 11 million since 2021 and by more than 57 million since the start of the pandemic.

Nearly 600 million people are projected to be chronically undernourished in 2030. It is noted that this is about 119 million more than the scenario if there had been no pandemic and a full-scale war launched by Russia against Ukraine. The most significant increase in hunger is also expected in Africa.

Southern European countries are suffering from extreme heatwaves

Southern European countries are suffering from the “Cerberus” heat wave, in the coming days in some regions temperatures may rise to 45 degrees Celsius and higher, Western media reported.

The Associated Press agency reports that according to the Spanish meteorological service, in the coming days in the southeastern regions of the Iberian Peninsula, temperatures may rise to 45 degrees Celsius. At the same time, high temperatures are already being recorded there: already at 6:00 Wednesday more than 100 weather stations recorded temperatures of at least 35 degrees Celsius.

In other areas of the peninsula, a slight drop in temperature is expected.

At the same time, temperatures have already exceeded or will exceed the 40 degrees Celsius mark in France, Greece, Croatia and Turkey in the coming days. The BBC reports that the situation is toughest in Italy, where the heatwave could reach 48.8 degrees Celsius, a weather record for Europe set in the country in 2021. At the moment, the highest level of meteorological danger has been introduced in 10 Italian cities, including Florence and Rome. On Tuesday, a 44-year-old man died in the north of the country due to high temperatures. Several tourists suffered heat strokes.

Sky News reports that temperatures could rise to 40-45 degrees in some parts of Greece, while the average for this time of year usually stays at 32, and the Czech city of Prague is expected to reach 34 degrees on Saturday – 10 above the July average of 24. In northern Africa, the heat may reach 50 degrees: in Tunisia, 49 degrees Celsius has already been recorded.

The cause of the high temperatures is the “Cerberus” heat wave, which was given that name by the Italian Meteorological Society. CNN notes that “Cerberus” may replace the new atmospheric front “Charon” on Friday, which could cause temperatures in Italy to rise even higher next week.

In many countries, authorities are urging citizens to take precautions while outdoors, traveling unnecessarily is not recommended.

British industrial production declines

The volume of industrial production in the UK in May decreased by 0.6% compared to the previous month, according to the British National Statistics Office (ONS).

The indicator declined for the second month in a row and showed the worst dynamics since August last year.

Analysts polled by Trading Economics expected a decline of 0.4%.

In annualized terms, industrial production fell by 2.3%, matching the forecast, after declining by a revised 1.6% a month earlier.

The country’s manufacturing output in May fell 0.2% from April, electricity and gas production fell 2%, while the mining sector rose 0.3%.

For more information on key macroeconomic indicators in Ukraine and the world, see the link on the YouTube channel Club of Experts at the link:

 

Oil continues to rise in price, Brent at $80.3 per barrel

Oil prices of benchmark grades are moderately rising on Thursday morning after rising at the end of the previous session, caused by the fall of the dollar.

The price of September futures for Brent on London’s ICE Futures exchange at 8:18 a.m. Q2 is $80.3 per barrel, up 19 cents (0.24%) from the previous session’s close. On Wednesday, these contracts rose by $0.71 (0.9%) – to $80.11 per barrel, having updated the maximum since the end of April.

Quotes of futures for WTI crude oil for August at the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by the specified time rose by 14 cents (0.18%) and amounted to $75.89 per barrel. At the end of the previous session they rose by $0.92 (1.2%) – to $75.75 per barrel.

On the eve it became known that the growth rate of consumer prices in the U.S. slowed to 3% in June from 4% in May, having updated the minimum since March 2021. Analysts on average expected a decline to 3.1%.

Oil traders are keeping an eye on easing inflationary pressures as this may result in the Federal Reserve (Fed) having no need to raise interest rates further, meaning “the current positive conditions in the economy may persist for some time,” said Colin Cieszynski, senior strategist at SIA Wealth Management.

“This has helped raise demand expectations, while supply from Saudi Arabia and Russia remains subdued,” he added.

The prospect of an imminent end to the U.S. monetary tightening cycle collapsed the dollar, which supported commodity prices. The ICE index, which shows the dollar’s performance against six major currencies, plunged 1.2% the day before, hitting its lowest level in more than a year.

The U.S. Department of Energy report, which indicated a sharp increase in oil reserves in the country last week – by almost 6 million barrels instead of the expected increase by 483 thousand barrels.

Gasoline inventories remained virtually unchanged, while distillate stocks rose by 4.815 million barrels. Experts surveyed by Trading Economics on average forecasted a decrease of 727 thousand barrels and 262 thousand barrels, respectively.

Stocks at the terminal in Cushing, where oil traded on Nymex is stored, decreased by 1.605 million barrels over the week.

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SpaceX launches tomorrow with new batch of Starlink internet satellites

The Falcon 9 rocket will launch into orbit on Friday with another batch of 54 mini-satellites to replenish the orbital constellation of the Starlink system’s global Internet coverage network, developer SpaceX said.
The launch will take place from Launch Complex 40 at the U.S. Space Force base at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Sunday at 00:40 U.S. East Coast time (7:40 a.m. QST).
This is Starlink’s 94th internet satellite launch since May 2019 and its 25th since the beginning of this year. SpaceX has already put into orbit more than 4.7 thousand such satellites. Some of them failed or went out of orbit. More than 4.4 thousand devices remain in orbit in working condition.
The first reusable stage of the launch vehicle, which is being used for the 16th time, will have to make a controlled vertical landing on the offshore drone platform A Shortfall of Gravitas, located in the Atlantic.

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