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General

Global transportation shows resilience to war in Ukraine

The global transportation system has proved mostly resilient to the war, with signs of increased stress in only a couple of sectors, the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated.

Tanker charter rates soared, driven by increased demand as oil began to move to new markets, while trucking prices rose further, reflecting rising diesel costs.

Overall, Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine is causing economic hardship.

For example, the conflict has disrupted global commodity markets, where Ukraine and Russia account for a significant share of world exports.

Specifically, energy prices have soared, as rising geopolitical tensions have jeopardized Russian oil and gas supplies to Europe.

In fact, Russian energy exports have already declined due to embargoes on Russian oil, self-sanctioning of some companies, transportation difficulties and Russia’s decision to interrupt gas supplies to several European countries.

The prices of several non-fuel raw materials vital to some manufacturing industries soared in the first days of the conflict, such as neon gas (an input for the production of semiconductor chips), palladium (an input for semiconductors and catalytic converters), nickel (an input for electric vehicle batteries) and platinum.

Global transportation

However, prices have since fallen back to near pre-invasion levels, as major disruptions have so far failed to materialize.

Finally, the blockade of shipping lanes in the Black Sea has cut off agricultural exports from the region, disrupting world food markets.

As a result, prices for corn, wheat, sunflower oil and fertilizer have reached record levels, raising fears of food insecurity worldwide.

To further aggravate the situation, several countries have banned the export of some food products to contain rising domestic prices.

So far, the war appears to have had more limited effects on other aspects of global supply chains.

The effect on supplier lead times across Europe has been slight, suggesting that the impact on manufacturers in the region has been relatively modest so far, apart from changes in raw material prices.

Global production and transportation bottlenecks remain a major impediment to U.S. and foreign companies.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and widespread Covid-19 blockages in China have exacerbated tensions in global supply networks and led to increased uncertainty about when supply conditions will improve.

Despite this turbulence in the global supply network, U.S. manufacturers have been posting solid production growth for more than a year.

 

Redacción Opportimes

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